THE 

SPANISH  PIONEERS 


JLUMMIS 


THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS 


FRANCISCO    PIZARRO. 


THE 


SPANISH  PIONEERS 


BY          ^ 

\& 

CHARLES  F:  LUMMIS*  V#S 

AUTHOR  OF  "  A  NEW  MEXICO  DAVID,"  "  STRANGE 
CORNERS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY,"  ETC. 


IllustratetJ 


SIXTH    EDITION 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1914 


COPYRIGHT 

BY  CHARLES  F.  LUMMIS 
A.D.  1893 


Bancroit  Library 


TO 


ONE  OF  SUCH    WOMEN   AS    MAKE    HEROES  AND 

KEEP   CHIVALRY   ALIVE   IN   OUR   LESS 

SINGLE-HEARTED  DAYS: 

ELIZABETH    BACON    CUSTER 


IN  pronouncing  the  Spanish  names  give  — 

a  the  sound  of  ah 

e        "  "     ay 

i        "          "     ee 

/       «          «     h 

o        *          "     oh 

u       "          "     oo 

h   is  silent 

//  is  sounded  like  Hi  in  million 

n  "          "    ny  in  lanyard 

hua         " 


THE  views  presented  in  this  book  have 
already  taken  their  place  in  historical  litera 
ture,  but  they  are  certainly  altogether  new 
ground  for  a  popular  work.  Because  it  is 
new,  some  who  have  not  fully  followed  the 
recent  march  of  scientific  investigation  may 
fear  that  it  is  not  authentic.  I  can  only  say 
that  the  estimates  and  statements  embodied 
in  this  volume  are  strictly  true,  and  that  I 
hold  myself  ready  to  defend  them  from  the 
standpoint  of  historical  science. 

I  do  this,  not  merely  from  the  motive 
of  personal  regard  toward  the  author,  but 
especially  in  view  of  the  merits  of  his  work, 
its  value  for  the  youth  of  the  present  and  of 
the  coming  generations. 

AD.  F.  BANDELIER. 


PREFACE. 


IT  is  because  I  believe  that  every  other 
young  Saxon-American  loves  fair  play 
and  admires  heroism  as  much  as  I  do,  that 
this  book  has  been  written.  That  we  have  not 
given  justice  to  the  Spanish  Pioneers  is  simply 
because  we  have  been  misled.  They  made  a 
record  unparalleled;  but  our  text-books  have 
not  recognized  that  fact,  though  they  no 
longer  dare  dispute  it.  Now,  thanks  to  the 
New  School  of  American  History,  we  are 
coming  to  the  truth,  —  a  truth  which  every 
manly  American  will  be  glad  to  know.  In 
this  country  of  free  and  brave  men,  race- 
prejudice,  the  most  ignorant  of  all  human 
ignorances,  must  die  out.  We  must  respect 
manhood  more  than  nationality,  and  admire 
it  for  its  own  sake  wherever  found,  —  and  it  is 
found  everywhere.  The  deeds  that  hold  the 
world  up  are  not  of  any  one  blood.  We  may 
be  born  anywhere,  —  that  is  a  mere  accident ; 


12  PREFACE. 

but  to  be  heroes  we  must  grow  by  means 
which  are  not  accidents  nor  provincialisms, 
but  the  birthright  and  glory  of  humanity. 

We  love  manhood ;  and  the  Spanish 
pioneering  of  the  Americas  was  the  largest 
and  longest  and  most  marvellous  feat  of  man 
hood  in  all  history.  It  was  not  possible  for 
a  Saxon  boy  to  learn  that  truth  in  my  boy 
hood  ;  it  is  enormously  difficult,  if  possible, 
now.  The  hopelessness  of  trying  to  get  from 
any  or  all  English  text-books  a  just  picture 
of  the  Spanish  hero  in  the  New  World  made 
me  resolve  that  no  other  young  American 
lover  of  heroism  and  justice  shall  need  to 
grope  so  long  in  the  dark  as  I  had  to  ;  and 
for  the  following  glimpses  into  the  most  in 
teresting  of  stories  he  has  to  thank  me  less 
than  that  friend  of  us  both,  A.  F.  Bandelier, 
the  master  of  the  New  School.  Without  the 
light  shed  on  early  America  by  the  scholar 
ship  of  this  great  pupil  of  the  great  Humboldt, 
my  book  could  not  have  been  written,  —  nor 
by  me  without  his  generous  personal  aid. 

C.  F.  L. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  THE  PIONEER  NATION 17 

II.  A  MUDDLED  GEOGRAPHY 25 

III.  COLUMBUS  THE  FINDER 36 

IV.  MAKING  GEOGRAPHY 43 

V.  THE  CHAPTER  OF  CONQUEST  ....  56 

VI.  A  GIRDLE  ROUND  THE  WORLD    ...  71 

VII.  SPAIN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES     ...  78 

VIII.  Two  CONTINENTS  MASTERED  ....  90 

II.  Specimen  pioneers* 

I.  THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER  .    .  101 

II.  THE  GREATEST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER  117 

III.  THE  WAR  OF  THE  ROCK 125 

IV.  THE  STORMING  OF  THE  SKY-CITY    .    .  135 
V.  THE  SOLDIER  POET 144 

VI.  THE  PIONEER  MISSIONARIES    ....  149 

VII.  THE  CHURCH-BUILDERS  IN  NEW  MEXICO  158 

VIII.  ALVARADO'S  LEAP  .     .    *    ,    .     .     .    .  170 

IX.  THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE  181 


14  CONTENTS. 

III.  8Rje  ©reatest  (Ecnqtieat, 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  SWINEHERD  OF  TRUXILLO    .    .    .  203 

II.    THE  MAN  WHO  WOULD  NOT  GIVE  UP  .  215 

III.  GAINING  GROUND 225 

IV.  PERU  AS  IT  WAS 238 

V.    THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU    .....  246 

VI.    THE  GOLDEN  RANSOM 257 

VII.    ATAHUALPA'S  TREACHERY  AND  DEATH  265 
VIII.    FOUNDING  A  NATION.— THE  SIEGE  OF 

Cuzco .    .    .    . '  i    ." 275 

IX.    THE  WORK  OF  TRAITORS 284 


THE   BROAD  STORY. 


HOW  AMERICA   WAS  FOUND  AND  TAMED. 


THE  SPANISH   PIONEERS. 


I. 

THE   PIONEER   NATION. 

IT  is  now  an  established  fact  of  history  that  the 
Norse  rovers  had  found  and  made  a  few  expe 
ditions  to  North  America  long  before  Columbus. 
For  the  historian  nowadays  to  look  upon  that  Norse 
discovery  as  a  myth,  or  less  than  a  certainty,  is  to 
confess  that  he  has  never  read  the  Sagas.  The 
Norsemen  came,  and  even  camped  in  the  New  World, 
before  the  year  1000  ;  but  they  only  camped.  They 
built  no  towns,  and  practically  added  to  the  world's 
knowledge  nothing  at  all.  They  did  nothing  to  en 
title  them  to  credit  as  pioneers.  The  honor  of  giv 
ing  America  to  the  world  belongs  to  Spain,  —  the 
credit  not  only  of  discovery,  but  of  centuries  of  such 
pioneering  as  no  other  nation  ever  paralleled  in  any 
land.  It  is  a  fascinating  story,  yet  one  to  which  our 
histories  have  so  far  done  scant  justice.  History  on 
true  principles  was  an  unknown  science  until  within 
a  century ;  and  public  opinion  has  long  been  ham 
pered  by  the  narrow  statements  and  false  conclusions 

2 


1 8  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

of  closet  students.  Some  of  these  men  have  been 
not  only  honest  but  most  charming  writers ;  but  their 
very  popularity  has  only  helped  to  spread  their  errors 
wider.  But  their  day  is  past,  and  the  beginnings  of 
new  light  have  come.  No  student  dares  longer  re 
fer  to  Prescott  or  Irving,  or  any  of  the  class  of  which 
they  were  the  leaders,  as  authorities  in  history ;  they 
rank  to-day  as  fascinating  writers  of  romance,  and 
nothing  more.  It  yet  remains  for  some  one  to  make 
as  popular  the  truths  of  American  history  as  the 
fables  have  been,  and  it  may  be  long  before  an  un- 
mistaken  Prescott  appears ;  but  meantime  I  should 
like  to  help  young  Americans  to  a  general  grasp  of 
the  truths  upon  which  coming  histories  will  be  based. 
This  book  is  not  a  history ;  it  is  simply  a  guideboard 
to  the  true  point  of  view,  the  broad  idea,  —  starting 
from  which,  those  who  are  interested  may  more  safely 
go  forward  to  the  study  of  details,  while  those  who 
can  study  no  farther  may  at  least  have  a  general 
understanding  of  the  most  romantic  and  gallant 
chapter  in  the  history  of  America. 

We  have  not  been  taught  how  astonishing  it  was 
that  one  nation  should  have  earned  such  an  over 
whelming  share  in  the  honor  of  giving  us  America ; 
and  yet  when  we  look  into  the  matter,  it  is  a  very 
startling  thing.  There  was  a  great  Old  World,  full  of 
civilization  :  suddenly  a  New  World  was  found,  —  the 
most  important  and  surprising  discovery  in  the  whole 
annals  of  mankind.  One  would  naturally  suppose  that 
the  greatness  of  such  a  discovery  would  stir  the  intel 
ligence  of  all  the  civilized  nations  about  equally,  and 


THE  PIONEER  NATION.  19 

that  they  would  leap  with  common  eagerness  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  great  meaning  this  discovery  had 
for  humanity.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  not  so. 
Broadly  speaking,  all  the  enterprise  of  Europe  was 
confined  to  one  nation,  —  and  that  a  nation  by  no 
means  the  richest  or  strongest.  One  nation  practically 
had  the  glory  of  discovering  and  exploring  America,  of 
changing  the  whole  world's  ideas  of  geography,  and 
making  over  knowledge  and  business  all  to  herself  for 
a  century  and  a  half.  And  Spain  was  that  nation. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  man  of  Genoa  who  gave  us 
America ;  but  he  came  as  a  Spaniard,  —  from  Spain, 
on  Spanish  faith  and  Spanish  money,  in  Spanish  ships 
and  with  Spanish  crews  ;  and  what  he  found  he  took 
possession  of  in  the  name  of  Spain.  Think  what  a 
kingdom  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  had  then  besides 
their  little  garden  in  Europe,  —  an  untrodden  half 
world,  in  which  a  score  of  civilized  nations  dwell 
to-day,  and  upon  whose  stupendous  area  the  newest 
and  greatest  of  nations  is  but  a  patch  !  What  a  dizzi 
ness  would  have  seized  Columbus  could  he  have  fore 
seen  the  inconceivable  plant  whose  unguessed  seeds 
he  held  that  bright  October  morning  in  1492  ! 

It  was  Spain,  too,  that  sent  out  the  accidental 
Florentine  whom  a  German  printer  made  godfather 
of  a  half  world  that  we  are  barely  sure  he  ever  saw, 
and  are  fully  sure  he  deserves  no  credit  for.  To 
name  America  after  Amerigo  Vespucci  was  such  an 
ignorant  injustice  as  seems  ridiculous  now;  but,  at 
all  events,  Spain  sent  him  who  gave  his  name  to  the 
New  World, 


20  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Columbus  did  little  beyond  finding  America, 
which  was  indeed  glory  enough  for  one  life.  But 
of  the  gallant  nation  which  made  possible  his  dis 
covery  there  were  not  lacking  heroes  to  carry  out 
the  work  which  that  discovery  opened.  It  was  a 
century  before  Anglo-Saxons  seemed  to  waken 
enough  to  learn  that  there  really  was  a  New  World, 
and  into  that  century  the  flower  of  Spain  crowded 
marvels  of  achievement.  She  was  the  only  Euro 
pean  nation  that  did  not  drowse.  Her  mailed 
explorers  overran  Mexico  and  Peru,  grasped  their 
incalculable  riches,  and  made  those  kingdoms  in 
alienable  parts  of  Spain.  Cortez  had  conquered 
and  was  colonizing  a  savage  country  a  dozen  times 
as  large  as  England  years  before  the  first  English- 
speaking  expedition  had  ever  seen  the  mere  coast 
where  it  was  to  plant  colonies  in  the  New  World ; 
and  Pizarro  did  a  still  greater  work.  Ponce  de 
Leon  had  taken  possession  for  Spain  of  what  is  now 
one  of  the  States  of  our  Union  a  generation  before 
any  of  those  regions  were  seen  by  Saxons.  That 
first  traveller  in  North  America,  Alvar  Nunez  Cabeza 
de  Vaca,  had  walked  his  unparalleled  way  across 
the  continent  from  Florida  to  the  Gulf  of  California 
half  a  century  before  the  first  foot  of  our  ancestors 
touched  our  soil.  Jamestown,  the  first  English  set 
tlement  in  America,  was  not  founded  until  1607,  and 
by  that  time  the  Spanish  were  permanently  estab 
lished  in  Florida  and  New  Mexico,  and  absolute 
masters  of  a  vast  territory  to  the  south.  They  had 
already  discovered,  conquered,  and  partly  colonized 


THE  PIONEER  NATION.  21 

inland  America  from  northeastern  Kansas  to  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Half  of  the  United 
States,  all  Mexico,  Yucatan,  Central  America,  Vene 
zuela,  Ecuador,  Bolivia,  Paraguay,  Peru,  Chile,  New 
Granada,  and  a  huge  area  besides,  were  Spanish  by 
the  time  England  had  acquired  a  few  acres  on  the 
nearest  edge  of  America.  Language  could  scarcely 
overstate  the  enormous  precedence  of  Spain  over  ali 
other  nations  in  the  pioneering  of  the  New  World. 
They  were  Spaniards  who  first  saw  and  explored  the 
greatest  gulf  in  the  world ;  Spaniards  who  discovered 
the  two  greatest  rivers;  Spaniards  who  found  the 
greatest  ocean  ;  Spaniards  who  first  knew  that  there 
were  two  continents  of  America;  Spaniards  who 
first  went  round  the  world  !  They  were  Spaniards 
who  had  carved  their  way  into  the  far  interior  of  our 
own  land,  as  well  as  of  all  to  the  south,  and  founded 
their  cities  a  thousand  miles  inland  long  before  the 
first  Anglo-Saxon  came  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
That  early  Spanish  spirit  of  finding  out  was  fairly 
superhuman.  Why,  a  poor  Spanish  lieutenant  with 
twenty  soldiers  pierced  an  unspeakable  desert  and 
looked  down  upon  the  greatest  natural  wonder  of 
America  or  of  the  world  —  the  Grand  Canon  of 
the  Colorado  —  three  full  centuries  before  any 
"  American "  eyes  saw  it !  And  so  it  was  from 
Colorado  to  Cape  Horn.  Heroic,  impetuous,  im 
prudent  Balboa  had  walked  that  awful  walk  across 
the  Isthmus,  and  found  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  built 
on  its  shores  the  first  ships  that  were  ever  made  in 
the  Americas,  and  sailed  that  unknown  sea,  and  had 


22  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

been  dead  more  than  half  a  century  before  Drake 
and  Hawkins  saw  it. 

England's  lack  of  means,  the  demoralization  fol 
lowing  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  and  religious  dissen 
sions  were  the  chief  causes  of  her  torpidity  then. 
When  her  sons  came  at  last  to  the  eastern  verge  of 
the  New  World  they  made  a  brave  record ;  but  they 
were  never  called  upon  to  face  such  inconceivable 
hardships,  such  endless  dangers  as  the  Spaniards 
had  faced.  The  wilderness  they  conquered  was 
savage  enough,  truly,  but  fertile,  well  wooded,  well 
watered,  and  full  of  game ;  while  that  which  the 
Spaniards  tamed  was  such  a  frightful  desert  as  no 
human  conquest  ever  overran  before  or  since,  and 
peopled  by  a  host  of  savage  tribes  to  some  of  whom 
the  petty  warriors  of  King  Philip  were  no  more  to 
be  compared  than  a  fox  to  a  panther.  The  Apaches 
and  the  Araucanians  would  perhaps  have  been  no 
more  than  other  Indians  had  they  been  transferred 
to  Massachusetts;  but  in  their  own  grim  domains 
they  were  the  deadliest  savages  that  Europeans  ever 
encountered.  For  a  century  of  Indian  wars  in  the 
east  there  were  three  centuries  and  a  half  in  the 
southwest.  In  one  Spanish  colony  (in  Bolivia)  as 
many  were  slain  by  the  savages  in  one  massacre 
as  there  were  people  in  New  York  city  when  the 
war  of  the  Revolution  began  !  If  the  Indians  in 
the  east  had  wiped  out  twenty-two  thousand  set 
tlers  in  one  red  slaughter,  as  did  those  at  Sorata, 
it  would  have  been  well  up  in  the  eighteen-hundreds 
before  the  depleted  colonies  could  have  untied  the 


THE  PIONEER  NATION.  23 

uncomfortable  apron- strings  of  the  mother  coun 
try,  and  begun  national  housekeeping  on  their  own 
account. 

When  you  know  that  the  greatest  of  English  text 
books  has  not  even  the  name  of  the  man  who  first 
sailed  around  the  world  (a  Spaniard),  nor  of  the 
man  who  discovered  Brazil  (a  Spaniard),  nor  of 
him  who  discovered  California  (a  Spaniard),  nor 
of  those  Spaniards  who  first  found  and  colonized  in 
what  is  now  the  United  States,  and  that  it  has  a 
hundred  other  omissions  as  glaring,  and  a  hundred 
histories  as  untrue  as  the  omissions  are  inexcusable, 
you  will  understand  that  it  is  high  time  we  should 
do  better  justice  than  did  our  fathers  to  a  subject 
which  should  be  of  the  first  interest  to  all  real 
Americans. 

The  Spanish  were  not  only  the  first  conquerors  of 
the  New  World,  and  its  first  colonizers,  but  also  its 
first  civilizers.  They  built  the  first  cities,  opened  the 
first  churches,  schools,  and  universities ;  brought  the 
first  printings-presses,  made  the  first  books ;  wrote 
the  first  dictionaries,  histories,  and  geographies,  and 
brought  the  first  missionaries;  and  before  New 
England  had  a  real  newspaper,  Mexico  had  a  sev 
enteenth-century  attempt  at  one  ! 

One  of  the  wonderful  things  about  this  Spanish 
pioneering  —  almost  as  remarkable  as  the  pioneering 
itself — was  the  humane  and  progressive  spirit  which 
marked  it  from  first  to  last.  Histories  of  the  sort 
long  current  speak  of  that  hero-nation  as  cruel  to 
the  Indians;  but,  in  truth,  the  record  of  Spain  in 


24  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

that  respect  puts  us  to  the  blush.  The  legislation 
of  Spain  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  everywhere  was 
incomparably  more  extensive,  more  comprehensive, 
more  systematic,  and  more  humane  than  that  of 
Great  Britain,  the  Colonies,  and  the  present  United 
States  all  combined.  Those  first  teachers  gave  the 
Spanish  language  and  Christian  faith  to  a  thousand 
aborigines,  where  we  gave  a  new  language  and  re 
ligion  to  one.  There  have  been  Spanish  schools 
for  Indians  in  America  since  1524.  By  1575  — 
nearly  a  century  before  there  was  a  printing-press 
in  English  America  —  many  books  in  twelve  different 
Indian  languages  had  been  printed  in  the  city  of 
Mexico,  whereas  in  our  history  John  Eliot's  Indian 
Bible  stands  alone;  and  three  Spanish  universities 
in  America  were  nearly  rounding  out  their  century 
when  Harvard  was  founded.  A  surprisingly  large 
proportion  of  the  pioneers  of  America  were  college 
men;  and  intelligence  went  hand  in  hand  with 
heroism  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  New  World. 


A  MUDDLED  GEOGRAPHY.  25 


II. 

A   MUDDLED   GEOGRAPHY. 

THE  least  of  the  difficulties  which  beset  the 
finders  of  the  New  World  was  the  then  tre 
mendous  voyage  to  reach  it.  Had  that  three  thou 
sand  miles  of  unknown  sea  been  the  chief  obstacle, 
civilization  would  have  overstepped  it  centuries 
before  it  did.  It  was  human  ignorance  deeper 
than  the  Atlantic,  and  bigotry  stormier  than  its 
waves,  which  walled  the  western  horizon  of  Europe 
for  so  long.  But  for  that,  Columbus  himself  would 
have  found  America  ten  years  sooner  than  he  did ; 
and  for  that  matter,  America  would  not  have  waited 
for  Columbus's  five-times-great-grandfather  to  be 
born.  It  was  really  a  strange  thing  how  the  rich 
est  half  of  the  world  played  so  long  at  hide-and- 
seek  with  civilization ;  and  how  at  last  it  was  found, 
through  the  merest  chance,  by  those  who  sought 
something  entirely  different.  Had  America  waited 
to  be  discovered  by  some  one  seeking  a  new  con 
tinent,  it  might  be  waiting  yet. 

Despite  the  fact  that  long  before  Columbus  va 
grant  crews  of  half  a  dozen  different  races  had 
already  reached  the  New  World,  they  had  left 


26  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

neither  mark  on  America  nor  result  in  civilization ; 
and  Europe,  at  the  very  brink  of  the  greatest  dis 
covery  and  the  greatest  events  in  history,  never 
dreamed  of  it.  Columbus  himself  had  no  imagin 
ings  of  America.  Do  you  know  what  he  started 
westward  to  find?  Asia. 

The  investigations  of  recent  years  have  greatly 
changed  our  estimates  of  Columbus.  The  tendency 
of  a  generation  ago  was  to  transform  him  to  a  demi 
god,  —  an  historical  figure,  faultless,  rounded,  all 
noble.  That  was  absurd ;  for  Columbus  was  only  a 
man,  and  all  men,  however  great,  fall  short  of  per 
fection.  The  tendency  of  the  present  generation 
is  to  go  to  the  other  extreme,  —  to  rob  him  of 
every  heroic  quality,  and  make  him  out  an  unhanged 
pirate  and  a  contemptible  accident  of  fortune ;  so 
that  we  are  in  a  fair  way  to  have  very  little  Colum 
bus  left.  But  this  is  equally  unjust  and  unscientific. 
Columbus  in  his  own  field  was  a  great  man  despite 
his  failings,  and  far  from  a  contemptible  one. 

To  understand  him,  we  must  first  have  some  gen 
eral  understanding  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
To  measure  how  much  of  an  inventor  of  the  great 
idea  he  was,  we  must  find  out  what  the  world's  ideas 
then  were,  and  how  much  they  helped  or  hindered 
him. 

In  those  far  days  geography  was  a  very  curious 
affair  indeed.  A  map  of  the  world  then  was  some 
thing  which  very  few  of  us  would  be  able  to  identify 
at  all  •  for  all  the  wise  men  of  all  the  earth  knew  less 
of  the  world's  topography  than  an  eight-year  old 


A  MUDDLED   GEOGRAPHY.  27 

schoolboy  knows  to-day.  It  had  been  decided  at 
last  that  the  world  was  not  flat,  but  round,  —  though 
even  that  fundamental  knowledge  was  not  yet  old ; 
but  as  to  what  composed  half  the  globe,  no  man 
alive  knew.  Westward  from  Europe  stretched  the 
"Sea  of  Darkness,"  and  beyond  a  little  way  none 
knew  what  it  was  or  contained.  The  variation  of 
the  compass  was  not  yet  understood.  Everything 
was  largely  guess-work,  and  groping  in  the  dark. 
The  unsafe  little  "  ships "  of  the  day  dared  not 
venture  out  of  sight  of  land,  for  there  was  nothing 
reliable  to  guide  them  back;  and  you  will  laugh 
at  one  reason  why  they  were  afraid  to  sail  out  into 
the  broad  western  sea,  —  they  feared  that  they  might 
unknowingly  get  over  the  edge,  and  that  ship  and 
crew  might  fall  off  into  space  !  Though  they  knew 
the  world  was  roundish,  the  attraction  of  gravitation 
was  not  yet  dreamed  of;  and  it  was  supposed  that 
if  one  got  too  far  over  the  upper  side  of  the  ball 
one  would  drop  off! 

Still,  it  was  a  matter  of  general  belief  that  there 
was  land  in  that  unknown  sea.  That  idea  had  been 
growing  for  more  than  a  thousand  years,  —  for  by 
the  second  century  it  began  to  be  felt  that  there 
were  islands  beyond  Europe.  By  Columbus's  time 
the  map-makers  generally  put  on  their  rude  charts 
a  great  many  guess-work  islands  in  the  Sea  of  Dark 
ness.  Beyond  this  swarm  of  islands  was  supposed 
to  lie  the  east  coast  of  Asia,  —  and  at  no  enormous 
distance,  for  the  real  size  of  the  world  was  under 
estimated  by  one  third.  Geography  was  in  its  mere 


28  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

infancy ;  but  it  was  engaging  the  attention  and  study 
of  very  many  scholars  who  were  learned  for  their  day. 
Each  of  them  put  his  studious  guessing  into  maps, 
which  varied  astonishingly  from  one  another. 

But  one  thing  was  accepted :  there  was  land 
somewhere  to  the  west,  —  some  said  a  few  islands, 
some  said  thousands  of  islands,  but  all  said  land  of 
some  sort.  So  Columbus  did  not  invent  the  idea; 
it  had  been  agreed  upon  long  before  he  was  born. 
The  question  was  not  if  there  was  a  New  World,  but 
if  it  was  possible  or  practicable  to  reach  it  without 
sailing  over  the  jumping-off  place  or  encountering 
other  as  sad  dangers.  The  world  said  No  ;  Colum 
bus  said  Yes,  —  and  that  was  his  claim  to  greatness. 
He  was  not  an  inventor,  but  an  accomplisher ;  and 
even  what  he  accomplished  physically  was  less 
remarkable  than  his  faith.  He  did  not  have  to 
teach  Europe  that  there  was  a  new  country,  but 
to  believe  that  he  could  get  to  that  country ;  and 
his  faith  in  himself  and  his  stubborn  courage  in 
making  others  believe  in  him  was  the  greatness 
of  his  character.  It  took  less  of  a  man  to  make 
the  final  proof  than  to  convince  the  public  that 
it  was  not  utter  foolhardiness  to  attempt  the  proof 
at  all. 

Christopher  Columbus,  as  we  call  him  (as  Colon  * 
he  was  better  known  in  his  own  day),  was  born  in 
Genoa,  Italy,  the  son  of  Dominico  Colombo,  a  wool- 
comber,  and  Suzanna  Fontanarossa.  The  year  of 
his  birth  is  not  certain ;  but  it  was  probably  about 
1  Pronounced  C6-16n,  —  the  Spanish  form. 


A  MUDDLED  GEOGRAPHY,  29 

1446.  Of  his  boyhood  we  know  nothing,  and  little 
enough  of  all  his  early  life,  —  though  it  is  certain 
that  he  was  active,  adventurous,  and  yet  very  stu 
dious.  It  is  said  that  his  father  sent  him  for  awhile 
to  the  University  of  Pavia ;  but  his  college  course 
could  not  have  lasted  very  long.  Columbus  himself 
tells  us  that  he  went  to  sea  at  fourteen  years  of  age. 
But  as  a  sailor  he  was  able  to  continue  the  studies 
which  interested  him  most,  —  geography  and  kindred 
topics.  The  details  of  his  early  seafaring  are  very 
meagre ;  but  it  seems  certain  that  he  sailed 
to  England,  Iceland,  Guinea,  and  Greece,  —  which 
made  a  man  then  far  more  of  a  traveller  than  does 
a  voyage  round  the  world  nowadays ;  and  with  this 
broadening  knowledge  of  men  and  lands  he  was 
gaining  such  grasp  of  navigation,  astronomy,  and 
geography  as  was  then  to  be  had. 

It  is  interesting  to  speculate  how  and  when 
Columbus  first  conceived  an  idea  of  such  stupen 
dous  importance.  It  was  doubtless  not  until  he 
was  a  mature  and  ex-  rv 

perienced    man,    who  '  ^  ' 

had  become  not  only       *j^    A    •  £• 
a    skilled    sailor,    but 
one  familiar  with  what 
other  sailors  had  done. 
The  Madeiras  and  the 

Azores    had    been    dis-       Autograph  of  Christopher  Columbus. 

covered  more  than  a  century.  Prince  Henry,  the 
Navigator  (that  great  patron  of  early  exploration), 
was  sending  his  crews  down  the  west  coast  of 


30  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Africa,  —  for  at  that  time  it  was  not  even  known 
what  the  lower  half  of  Africa  was.  These  expe 
ditions  were  a  great  help  to  Columbus  as  well  as 
to  the  world's  knowledge.  It  is  almost  certain, 
too,  that  when  he  was  in  Iceland  he  must  have 
heard  something  of  the  legends  of  the  Norse  rovers 
who  had  been  to  America.  Everywhere  he  went 
his  alert  mind  caught  some  new  encouragement, 
direct  or  indirect,  to  the  great  resolve  which  was 
half  unconsciously  forming  in  his  mind. 

About  1473  Columbus  wandered  to  Portugal;  and 
there  formed  associations  which  had  an  influence 
on  his  future.  In  time  he  found  a  wife,  Felipa 
Moniz,  the  mother  of  his  son  and  chronicler  Diego. 
As  to  his  married  life  there  is  much  uncertainty, 
and  whether  it  was  creditable  to  him  or  the  reverse. 
It  is  known  from  his  own  letters  that  he  had  other 
children  than  Diego,  but  they  are  left  in  obscurity. 
His  wife  is  understood  to  have  been  a  daughter  of 
the  sea-captain  known  as  "  The  Navigator,"  whose 
services  were  rewarded  by  making  him  the  first 
governor  of  the  newly  discovered  island  of  Porto 
Santo,  off  Madeira.  It  was  the  most  natural  thing 
in  the  world  that  Columbus  should  presently  pay  a 
visit  to  his  adventurous  father-in-law;  and  it  was, 
perhaps,  while  in  Porto  Santo  on  this  visit  that  he 
began  to  put  his  great  thoughts  in  more  tangible 
shape. 

With  men  like  "the  world-seeking  Genoese,"  a 
resolve  like  that,  once  formed,  is  as  a  barbed  arrow, 
—  difficult  to  be  plucked  out.  From  that  day  on  he 


A  MUDDLED   GEOGRAPHY.  31 

knew  no  rest.  The  central  idea  of  his  life  was 
"  Westward  !  Asia  !  "  and  he  began  to  work  for  its 
realization.  It  is  asserted  that  with  a  patriotic 
intention  he  hastened  home  to  make  first  offer  of 
his  services  to  his  native  land.  But  Genoa  was  not 
looking  for  new  worlds,  and  declined  his  proffer. 
Then  he  laid  his  plans  before  John  II.  of  Portugal. 
King  John  was  charmed  with  the  idea ;  but  a  coun 
cil  of  his  wisest  men  assured  him  that  the  plan  was 
ridiculously  foolhardy.  At  last  he  sent  out  a  secret 
expedition,  which  after  sailing  out  of  sight  of  shore 
soon  lost  heart  and  returned  without  result.  When 
Columbus  learned  of  this  treachery,  he  was  so  in 
dignant  that  he  left  for  Spain  at  once,  and  there 
interested  several  noblemen  and  finally  the  Crown 
itself  in  his  audacious  hopes.  But  after  three  years 
of  profound  deliberation,  a  junta  x  of  astronomers 
and  geographers  decided  that  his  plan  was  absurd 
and  impossible,  —  the  islands  could  not  be  reached. 
Disheartened,  Columbus  started  for  France;  but 
by  a  lucky  chance  tarried  at  an  Andalusian  monas 
tery,  where  he  won  the  guardian,  Juan  Perez  de 
Marchena,  to  his  views.  This  monk  had  been  con 
fessor  to  the  queen ;  and  through  his  urgent  inter 
cession  the  Crown  at  last  sent  for  Columbus,  who 
returned  to  court.  His  plans  had  grown  within  him 
till  they  almost  overbalanced  him,  and  he  seems  to 
have  forgotten  that  his  discoveries  were  only  a  hope 
and  not  yet  a  fact.  Courage  and  persistence  he 
certainly  had ;  but  we  could  wish  that  now  he  had 
1  Pronounced  Hoon-tzh. 


32  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

been  a  trifle  more  modest.  When  the  king  asked  on 
what  terms  he  would  make  the  voyage,  he  replied : 
"  That  you  make  me  an  admiral  before  I  start ; 
that  I  be  viceroy  of  all  the  lands  that  I  shall  find ; 
and  that  I  receive  one  tenth  of  all  the  gain."  Strong 
demands,  truly,  for  the  poor  wool-comber's  son  of 
Genoa  to  speak  to  the  dazzling  king  of  Spain  ! 

Ferdinand  promptly  rejected  this  bold  demand ; 
and  in  January,  1492,  Columbus  was  actually  on  his 
way  to  France  to  try  to  make  an  impression  there, 
when  he  was  overtaken  by  a  messenger  who  brought 
him  back  to  court.  It  is  a  very  large  debt  that  we  owe 
to  good  Queen  Isabella,  for  it  was  due  to  her  strong 
personal  interest  that  Columbus  had  a  chance  to  find 
the  New  World.  When  all  science  frowned,  and 
wealth  withheld  its  aid,  it  was  a  woman's  persistent 
faith  —  aided  by  the  Church  —  that  saved  history. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  equally  unscientific 
writing  done  for  and  against  that  great  queen.  Some 
have  tried  to  make  her  out  a  spotless  saint,  —  a  rather 
hopeless  task  to  attempt  in  behalf  of  any  human 
being,  —  and  others  picture  her  as  sordid,  merce 
nary,  and  in  no  wise  admirable.  Both  extremes 
are  equally  illogical  and  untrue,  but  the  latter  is  the 
more  unjust.  The  truth  is  that  all  characters  have 
more  than  one  side ;  and  there  are  in  history  as  in 
everyday  life  comparatively  few  figures  we  can 
either  deify  or  wholly  condemn.  Isabella  was  not 
an  angel,  —  she  was  a  woman,  and  with  failings,  as 
every  woman  has.  But  she  was  a  remarkable  woman 
and  a  great  one,  and  worthy  our  respect  as  well  as 


A  MUDDLED   GEOGRAPHY.  33 

our  gratitude.  She  has  no  need  to  fear  comparison 
of  character  with  "Good  Queen  Bess,"  and  she 
made  a  much  greater  mark  on  history.  It  was  not 
sordid  ambition  nor  avarice  which  made  her  give 
ear  to  the  world-finder.  It  was  the  woman's  faith 
and  sympathy  and  intuition  which  have  so  many 
times  changed  history,  and  given  room  for  the  ex 
ploits  of  so  many  heroes  who  would  have  died 
unheard  of  if  they  had  depended  upon  the  slower 
and  colder  and  more  selfish  sympathy  of  men. 

Isabella  took  the  lead  and  the  responsibility  her 
self.  She  had  a  kingdom  of  her  own ;  and  if  her 
royal  husband  Ferdinand  did  not  deem  it  wise  to 
embark  the  fortunes  of  Arragon  in  such  a  wild  enter 
prise,  she  could  meet  the  expenses  from  her  realm  of 
Castile.  Ferdinand  seems  to  have  cared  little  either 
way;  but  his  fair-haired,  blue-eyed  queen,  whose 
gentle  face  hid  great  courage  and  determination, 
was  enthusiastic. 

The  Genoan's  conditions  were  granted ;  and  on 
the  i  ;th  of  April,  1492,  one  of  the  most  important 
papers  that  ever  held  ink  was  signed  by  their  Majes 
ties,  and  by  Columbus.  If  you  could  see  that  pre 
cious  contract,  you  would  probably  have  very  little 
idea  whose  autograph  was  the  lower  one,  —  for 
Columbus' s  rigmarole  of  a  signature  would  cause 
consternation  at  a  teller's  window  nowadays.  The 
gist  of  this  famous  agreement  was  as  follows  :  — 

i.  That  Columbus  and  his  heirs  forever  should 
have  the  office  of  admiral  in  all  the  lands  he  might 
discover. 

3 


34  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

2.  That  he  should  be  viceroy  and  governor-gen 
eral  of  these  lands,  with  a  voice  in  the  appointment 
of  his  subordinate  governors. 

3.  That    he    should    reserve    for    himself   one 
tenth  part  of  the  gold,  silver,  pearls,  and  all  other 
treasures  acquired. 

4.  That  he  and   his   lieutenant   should  be  sole 
judges,  concurrent  with  the  High  Admiral  of  Cas 
tile,  in  matters  of  commerce  in  the  New  World. 

5.  That  he   should  have  the   privilege   of   con 
tributing  one  eighth  to  the  expenses  of  any  other 
expedition  to  these  new  lands,  and  should  then  be 
entitled  to  one  eighth  of  the  profits. 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  conduct  of  Columbus  in  Spain 
was  not  free  from  a  duplicity  which  did  him  little 
credit.  He  entered  the  service  of  Spain,  Jan.  20, 
1486.  As  early  as  May  5,  1487,  the  Spanish  Crown 
gave  him  three  thousand  maravedis  (about  $18) 
"for  some  secret  service  for  their  Majesties;"  and 
during  the  same  year,  eight  thousand  maravedis 
more.  Yet  after  this  he  was  secretly  proffering  his 
services  again  to  the  King  of  Portugal,  who  in  1488 
wrote  Columbus  a  letter  giving  him  the  freedom  of 
the  kingdom  in  return  for  the  explorations  he  was  to 
make  for  Portugal.  But  this  fell  through. 

Of  the  voyage  itself  you  are  more  likely  to  have 
heard, —  the  voyage  which  lasted  a  few  months,  but 
to  earn  which  the  strong- hearted  Genoese  had  borne 
nearly  twenty  years  of  disheartenment  and  opposi 
tion.  It  was  the  years  of  undaunted  struggling  to 
convert  the  world  to  his  own  unfathomed  wisdom 


A  MUDDLED   GEOGRAPHY. 


35 


that  showed  the  character  of  Columbus  more  fully 
than  all  he  ever  did  after  the  world  believed  him. 

The  difficulties  of  securing  official  consent  and 
permission  being  thus  at  last  overcome,  there  was 
only  the  obstacle  left  of  getting  an  expedition 
together.  This  was  a  very  serious  matter;  there 
were  few  who  cared  to  join  in  such  a  foolhardy 
undertaking  as  it  was  felt  to  be.  Finally,  volun 
teers  failing,  a  crew  had  to  be  gathered  forcibly  by 
order  of  the  Crown ;  and  with  his  nao  the  "  Santa 
Maria,"  and  his  two  caravels  the  "  Nina  "  and  the 
"  Pinta,"  filled  with  unwilling  men,  the  world-finder 
was  at  last  ready. 


36  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


III. 

COLUMBUS,  THE  FINDER. 

/COLUMBUS  sailed  from  Palos,  Spain,  on  Friday, 
V^  August  3,  1492,  at  8  A.  M.,  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty  Spaniards  under  his  command.  You 
know  how  he  and  his  brave  comrade  Pinzon  held  up 
the  spirits  of  his  weakening  crew ;  and  how,  on  the 
morning  of  October  12,  they  sighted  land  at  last. 
It  was  not  the  mainland  of  America, —  which  Colum 
bus  never  saw  until  nearly  eight  years  later, —  but 
Watling's  Island.  The  voyage  had  been  the  longest 
west  which  man  had  yet  made  ;  and  it  was  very  char 
acteristically  illustrative  of  the  state  of  the  world's 
knowledge  then.  When  the  variations  of  the  mag 
netic  needle  were  noticed  by  the  voyagers,  they 
decided  that  it  was  not  the  needle  but  the  north 
star  that  varied.  Columbus  was  perhaps  as  well 
informed  as  any  other  geographer  of  his  day ;  but 
he  came  to  the  sober  conclusion  that  the  cause 
of  certain  phenomena  must  be  that  he  was  sailing 
over  a  bump  on  the  globe  !  This  was  more  strongly 
brought  out  in  his  subsequent  voyage  to  the  Orinoco, 
when  he  detected  even  a  worse  earth-bump,  and 
concluded  that  the  world  must  be  pear-shaped  !  It 
is  interesting  to  remember  that  but  for  an  accidental 


COLUMBUS,    THE  FINDER.  37 

change  of  course,  the  voyagers  would  have  struck 
the  Gulf  Stream  and  been  carried  north,  —  in  which 
case  what  is  now  the  United  States  would  have 
become  the  first  field  of  Spam's  conquest. 

The  first  white  man  who  saw  land  in  the  New 
World  was  a  common  sailor  named  Rodrigo  de 
Triana,  though  Columbus  himself  had  seen  a  light 
the  night  before.  Although  it  is  probable  —  as  you 
will  see  later  on  —  that  Cabot  saw  the  actual  con 
tinent  of  America  before  Columbus  (in  1497),  it 
was  Columbus  who  found  the  New  World,  who  took 
possession  of  it  as  its  ruler  under  Spain,  and  who 
even  founded  the  first  European  colonies  in  it, — 
building,  and  settling  with  forty-three  men,  a  town 
which  he  named  La  Navidad  (the  Nativity),  on  the 
island  of  San  Domingo  (Espanola,  as  he  called  it), 
in  December,  1492.  Moreover,  had  it  not  been 
that  Columbus  had  already  found  the  New  World, 
Cabot  never  would  have  sailed. 

The  explorers  cruised  from  island  to  island,  find 
ing  many  remarkable  things.  In  Cuba,  which  they 
reached  October  26,  they  discovered  tobacco,  which 
had  never  been  known  to  civilization  before,  and 
the  equally  unknown  sweet  potato.  These  two 
products,  of  the  value  of  which  no  early  explorer 
dreamed,  were  to  be  far  more  important  factors  in 
the  money-markets  and  in  the  comforts  of  the  world 
than  all  the  more  dazzling  treasures.  Even  the 
hammock  and  its  name  were  given  to  civilization  by 
this  first  voyage. 

In  March,   1493,   after  a  fearful  return  voyage, 


38  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Columbus  was  again  in  Spain,  telling  his  wondrous 
news  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  showing  them 
his  trophies  of  gold,  cotton,  brilliant- feathered  birds, 
strange  plants  and  animals,  and  still  stranger  men,  — • 
for  he  had  also  brought  back  with  him  nine  Indians, 
the  first  Americans  to  take  a  European  trip.  Every 
honor  was  heaped  upon  Columbus  by  the  apprecia 
tive  country  of  his  adoption.  It  must  have  been  a 
gallant  sight  to  see  this  tall,  athletic,  ruddy-faced 
though  gray-haired  new  grandee  of  Spain  riding  in 
almost  royal  splendor  at  the  king's  bridle,  before  an 
admiring  court. 

The  grave  and  graceful  queen  was  greatly  interested 
in  the  discoveries  made,  and  enthusiastic  in  prepar 
ing  for  more.  Both  intellectually  and  as  a  woman, 
the  New  World  appealed  to  her  very  strongly ;  and 
as  to  the  aborigines,  she  became  absorbed  in  earnest 
plans  for  their  welfare.  Now  that  Columbus  had 
proved  that  one  could  sail  up  and  down  the  globe 
without  falling  over  that  "jumping-off  place,"  there 
was  no  trouble  about  finding  plenty  of  imitators.1 
He  had  done  his  work  of  genius,  —  he  was  the  path 
finder,  —  and  had  finished  his  great  mission.  Had 
he  stopped  there,  he  would  have  left  a  much  greater 
name ;  for  in  all  that  came  after  he  was  less  fitted 
for  his  task. 

A  second  expedition  was  hastened ;  and  Sept.  25, 
1493,  Columbus  sailed  again,  —  this  time  taking  fif 
teen  hundred  Spaniards  in  seventeen  vessels,  with 

1  As  he  himself  complains :  "  The  very  tailors  turned 
explorers." 


COLUMBUS,    THE  FINDER.  39 

animals  and  supplies  to  colonize  his  New  World. 
And  now,  too,  with  strict  commands  from  the  Crown 
to  Christianize  the  Indians,  and  always  to  treat  them 
well,  Columbus  brought  the  first  missionaries  to 
America,  —  twelve  of  them.  The  wonderful  mother- 
care  of  Spain  for  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  savages 
who  so  long  disputed  her  entrance  to  the  New  World 
began  early,  and  it  never  flagged.  No  other  nation 
ever  evolved  or  carried  out  so  noble  an  "Indian 
policy"  as  Spain  has  maintained  over  her  western 
possessions  for  four  centuries. 

The  second  voyage  was  a  very  hard  one.  Some 
of  the  vessels  were  worthless  and  leaky,  and  the 
crews  had  to  keep  bailing  them  out. 

Columbus  made  his  second  landing  in  the  New 
World  Nov.  3,  1493,  on  the  island  of  Dominica. 
His  colony  of  La  Navidad  had  been  destroyed ;  and 
in  December  he  founded  the  new  city  of  Isabella. 
In  January,  1494,  he  founded  there  the  first  church 
in  the  New  World.  During  the  same  voyage  he 
also  built  the  first  road. 

As  has  been  said,  the  first  voyages  to  America 
were  little  in  comparison  with  the  difficulty  in  get 
ting  a  chance  to  make  a  voyage  at  all;  and  the 
hardships  of  the  sea  were  nothing  to  those  that 
came  after  the  safe  landing.  It  was  now  that  Colum 
bus  entered  upon  the  troubles  which  darkened  the 
remainder  of  a  life  of  glory.  Great  as  was  his  genius 
as  an  explorer,  he  was  an  unsuccessful  colonizer; 
and  though  he  founded  the  first  four  towns  in  all  the 
New  World,  they  brought  him  only  ill.  His  colo- 


40  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

nists  at  Isabella  soon  grew  mutinous  ;  and  San  Tonias, 
which  he  founded  in  Hayti,  brought  him  no  better 
fortune.  The  hardships  of  continued  exploration 
among  the  West  Indies  presently  overcame  his  health, 
and  for  nearly  half  a  year  he  lay  sick  in  Isabella. 
Had  it  not  been  for  his  bold  and  skilful  brother 
Bartholomew,  of  whom  we  hear  so  little,  we  might 
not  have  heard  so  much  of  Columbus. 

By  1495,  the  just  displeasure  of  the  Crown  with 
the  unfitness  of  the  first  viceroy  of  the  New  World 
caused  Juan  Aguado  to  be  sent  out  with  an  open 
commission  to  inspect  matters.  This  was  more  than 
Columbus  could  bear ;  and  leaving  Bartholomew  as 
adelantado  (a  rank  for  which  we  now  have  no  equiva 
lent  ;  it  means  the  officer  in  chief  command  of  an 
expedition  of  discoverers),  Columbus  hastened  to 
Spain  and  set  himself  right  with  his  sovereigns. 
Returning  to  the  New  World  as  soon  as  possible, 
he  discovered  at  >ast  the  mainland  (that  of  South 
America),  Aug.  i,  1498,  but  at  first  thought  it  an 
island,  and  named  it  Zeta.  Presently,  however,  he 
came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco,  whose  mighty 
current  proved  to  him  that  it  poured  from  a 
continent. 

Stricken  down  by  sickness,  he  returned  to  Isabella, 
only  to  find  that  his  colonists  had  revolted  against 
Bartholomew.  Columbus  satisfied  the  mutineers  by 
sending  them  back  to  Spain  with  a  number  of  slaves, 
—  a  disgraceful  act,  for  which  the  times  are  his  only 
apology.  Good  Queen  Isabella  was  so  indignant  at 
this  barbarity  that  she  ordered  the  poor  Indians  to  be 


COLUMBUS,    THE  FINDER.  41 

liberated,  and  sent  out  Francisco  de  Bobadilla,  who 
in  1500  arrested  Columbus  and  his  two  brothers,  in 
Espafiola,  and  sent  them  in  irons  to  Spain.  Colum 
bus  speedily  regained  the  sympathy  of  the  Crown, 
and  Bobadilla  was  superseded;  but  that  was  the 
end  of  Columbus  as  viceroy  of  the  New  World.  In 
1502  he  made  his  fourth  voyage,  discovered  Mar 
tinique  and  other  islands,  and  founded  his  fourth 
colony,  —  Bethlehem,  1503.  But  misfortune  was 
closing  in  upon  him.  After  more  than  a  year  of 
great  hardship  and  distress,  he  returned  to  Spain ; 
and  there  he  died  May  20,  1506. 

The  body  of  the  world-finder  was  buried  in  Val- 
ladolid,  Spain,  but  was  several  times  transferred  to 
new  resting-places.  It  is  claimed  that  his  dust  now 
lies,  with  that  of  his  son  Diego,  in  a  chapel  of  the 
cathedral  of  Havana ;  but  this  is  doubtful.  We  are 
not  at  all  sure  that  the  precious  relics  were  not 
retained  and  interred  on  the  island  of  Santo  Do 
mingo,  whither  they  certainly  were  brought  from 
Spain.  At  all  events,  they  are  in  the  New  World, 
—  at  peace  at  last  in  the  lap  of  the  America  he 
gave  us. 

Columbus  was  neither  a  perfect  man  nor  a  scoun 
drel,  —  though  as  each  he  has  been  alternately  pic 
tured.  He  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  for  his  day 
and  calling  a  good  one.  He  had  with  the  faith  of 
genius  a  marvellous  energy  and  tenacity,  and  through 
a  great  stubbornness  carried  out  an  idea  which  seems 
to  us  very  natural,  but  to  the  world  then  seemed 
ridiculous.  As  long  as  he  remained  in  the  profes- 


42  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

sion  to  which  he  had  been  reared,  and  in  which  he 
was  probably  unequalled  at  the  time,  he  made  a 
wonderful  record.  But  when,  after  half  a  century 
as  a  sailor,  he  suddenly  turned  viceroy,  he  became 
the  proverbial  "  sailor  on  land,"  —  absolutely  "  lost." 
In  his  new  duties  he  was  unpractical,  headstrong, 
and  even  injurious  to  the  colonization  of  the  New 
World.  It  has  been  a  fashion  to  accuse  the  Spanish 
Crown  of  base  ingratitude  toward  Columbus ;  but 
this  is  unjust.  The  fault  was  with  his  own  acts, 
which  made  harsh  measures  by  the  Crown  neces 
sary  and  right.  He  was  not  a  good  manager,  nor 
had  he  the  high  moral  principle  without  which  no 
ruler  can  earn  honor.  His  failures  were  not  from 
rascality  but  from  some  weaknesses,  and  from  a  gen 
eral  unfitness  for  the  new  duties  to  which  he  was  too 
old  to  adapt  himself. 

We  have  many  pictures  of  Columbus,  but  probably 
none  that  look  like  him.  There  was  no  photography 
in  his  day,  and  we  cannot  learn  that  his  portrait  was 
ever  drawn  from  life.  The  pictures  that  have  come 
down  to  us  were  made,  with  one  exception,  after 
his  death,  and  all  from  memory  or  from  descriptions 
of  him.  He  is  represented  to  have  been  tall  and 
imposing,  with  a  rather  stern  face,  gray  eyes,  aquiline 
nose,  ruddy  but  freckled  cheeks,  and  gray  hair,  and 
he  liked  to  wear  the  gray  habit  of  a  Franciscan 
missionary.  Several  of  his  original  letters  remain 
to  us,  with  his  remarkable  autograph,  and  a  sketch 
that  is  attributed  to  him. 


MAKING  GEOGRAPHY.  43 


IV. 

MAKING   GEOGRAPHY. 

WHILE  Columbus  was  sailing  back  and  forth 
between  the  Old  World  and  the  new  one 
which  he  had  found,  was  building  towns  and  nam 
ing  what  were  to  be  nations,  England  seemed 
almost  ready  to  take  a  hand.  All  Europe  was  in 
terested  in  the  strange  news  which  came  from  Spain. 
England  moved  through  the  instrumentality  of  a 
Venetian,  whom  we  know  as  Sebastian  Cabot.  On 
the  5th  of  March,  1496,—  four  years  after  Colum- 
bus's  discovery,  —  Henry  VII.  of  England  granted 
a  patent  to  "John  Gabote,  a  citizen  of  Venice,"  and 
his  three  sons,  allowing  them  to  sail  westward  on  a 
voyage  of  discovery.  John,  and  Sebastian  his  son, 
sailed  from  Bristol  in  1497,  and  saw  the  mainland 
of  America  at  daybreak,  June  24,  of  the  same  year, 
—  probably  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia, — but  did  noth 
ing.  After  their  return  to  England,  the  elder  Cabot 
died.  In  May,  1498,  Sebastian  sailed  on  his  second 
voyage,  which  probably  took  him  into  Hudson's  Bay 
and  a  few  hundred  miles  down  the  coast.  There  is 
little  probability  in  the  theory  that  he  ever  saw  any 
part  of  what  is  now  the  United  States.  He  was  a 
northern  rover,  —  so  thoroughly  so,  that  the  three 


AA  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

II 

hundred  colonists  whom  he  brought  out  perished 
with  cold  in  July. 

England  did  not  treat  her  one  early  explorer  well ; 
and  in  1512  Cabot  entered  the  more  grateful  service 
of  Spain.  In  1517  he  sailed  to  the  Spanish  pos 
sessions  in  the  West  Indies,  on  which  voyage  he 
was  accompanied  by  an  Englishman  named  Thomas 
Pert.  In  August,  1526,  Cabot  sailed  with  another 
Spanish  expedition  bound  for  the  Pacific,  which  had 
already  been  discovered  by  a  heroic  Spaniard ;  but 
his  officers  mutinied,  and  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
his  purpose.  He  explored  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  (the 
"  Silver  River  ")  for  a  thousand  miles,  built  a  fort  at 
one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Parana,  and  explored  part 
of  that  river  and  of  the  Paraguay,  —  for  South  Amer 
ica  had  been  for  nearly  a  generation  a  Spanish  pos 
session.  Thence  he  returned  to  Spain,  and  later  to 
England,  where  he  died  about  1557. 

Of  the  rude  maps  which  Cabot  made  of  the  New 
World,  all  are  lost  save  one  which  is  preserved  in 
France ;  and  there  are  no  documents  left  of  him. 
Cabot  was  a  genuine  explorer,  and  must  be  included 
in  the  list  of  the  pioneers  of  America,  but  as  one 
whose  work  was  fruitless  of  consequences,  and  who 
saw,  but  did  not  take  a  hand  in,  the  New  World. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  courage  and  stubborn  per 
severance,  and  will  be  remembered  as  the  discov 
erer  of  Newfoundland  and  the  extreme  northern 
mainland. 

After  Cabot  England  took  a  nap  of  more  than 
half  a  century.  When  she  woke  again,  it  was  to  find 


MAKING   GEOGRAPHY.  45 

that  Spain's  sleepless  sons  had  scattered  over  half 
the  New  World ;  and  that  even  France  and  Portu 
gal  had  left  her  far  behind.  Cabot,  who  was  not  an 
Englishman,  was  the  first  English  explorer ;  and  the 
next  were  Drake  and  Hawkins,  and  then  Captains 
Amadas  and  Barlow,  after  a  lapse  of  seventy-five 
and  eighty-seven  years,  respectively,  —  during  which 
a  large  part  of  the  two  continents  had  been  discov 
ered,  explored,  and  settled  by  other  nations,  of  which 
Spain  was  undeniably  in  the  lead.  Columbus,  the 
first  Spanish  explorer,  was  not  a  Spaniard  ;  but  with 
his  first  discovery  began  such  an  impetuous  and  un 
ceasing  rush  of  Spanish-born  explorers  as  achieved 
more  in  a  hundred  years  than  all  the  other  nations 
of  Europe  put  together  achieved  here  in  America's 
first  three  hundred.  Cabot  saw  and  did  nothing ; 
and  three  quarters  of  a  century  later  Sir  John  Haw 
kins  and  Sir  Francis  Drake  —  whom  old  histories 
laud  greatly,  but  who  got  rich  by  selling  poor  Afri 
cans  into  slavery,  and  by  actual  piracy  against  un 
protected  ships  and  towns  of  the  colonies  of  Spain, 
with  which  their  mother  England  was  then  at  peace 
—  saw  the  West  Indies  and  the  Pacific,  more  than 
half  a  century  after  these  had  become  possessions 
of  Spain.  Drake  was  the  first  Englishman  to  go 
through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  —  and  he  did  it 
sixty  years  after  that  heroic  Portuguese  had  found 
them  and  christened  them  with  his  life-blood.  Drake 
was  probably  first  to  see  what  is  now  Oregon, — 
his  only  important  discovery.  He  "took  posses 
sion  "  of  Oregon  for  England,  under  the  name  of 


46  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

"  New  Albion ;  "  but  old  Albion  never  had  a  settle 
ment  there. 

Sir  John  Hawkins,  Drake's  kinsman,  was,  like 
him,  a  distinguished  sailor,  but  not  a  real  discoverer 
or  explorer  at  all.  Neither  of  them  explored  or 
colonized  the  New  World;  and  neither  left  much 
more  impress  on  its  history  than  if  he  had  never 
been  born.  Drake  brought  the  first  potatoes  to 
England ;  but  the  importance  even  of  that  dis 
covery  was  not  dreamed  of  till  long  after,  and  by 
other  men. 

Captains  Amadas  and  Barlow,  in  1584,  saw  our 
coast  at  Cape  Hatteras  and  the  island  of  Roanoke, 
and  went  away  without  any  permanent  result.  The 
following  year  Sir  Richard  Grenville  discovered  Cape 
Fear,  and  there  was  an  end  of  it.  Then  came  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  famous  but  petty  expeditions  to 
Virginia,  the  Orinoco,  and  New  Guinea,  and  the 
less  important  voyages  of  John  Davis  (in  1585-87) 
to  the  Northwest.  Nor  must  we  forget  brave  Mar 
tin  Frobisher's  fruitless  voyages  to  Greenland  in 
1576-81.  This  was  the  end  of  England  in  America 
until  the  seventeenth  century.  In  1602  Captain 
Gosnold  coasted  nearly  our  whole  Atlantic  seaboard, 
particularly  about  Cape  Cod;  and  five  years  later 
yet  was  the  beginning  of  English  occupancy  in  the 
New  World.  The  first  English  settlement  which 
made  a  serious  mark  on  history  —  as  Jamestown 
did  not  —  was  that  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  1602  ; 
and  they  came  not  for  the  sake  of  opening  a 
new  world,  but  to  escape  the  intolerance  of  the 


ONE    OF    THE    MOQUI    TOWNS. 


See  page  87. 


MAKING   GEOGRAPHY.  47 

old.  In  fact,  as  Mr.  Winsor  has  pointed  out,  the 
Saxon  never  took  any  particular  interest  in  America 
until  it  began  to  be  understood  as  a  commercial 
opportunity. 

But  when  we  turn  to  Spain,  what  a  record  is  that 
of  the  hundred  years  after  Columbus  and  before 
Plymouth  Rock  !  In  1499  Vincente  Yanez  de  Pin- 
zon,  a  companion  of  Columbus,  discovered  the  coast 
of  Brazil,  and  claimed  the  new  country  for  Spain, 
but  made  no  settlement.  His  discoveries  were  at 
the  mouths  of  the  Amazon  and  the  Orinoco ;  and 
he  was  the  first  European  to  see  the  greatest  river 
in  the  world.  In  the  following  year  Pedro  Alvarez 
Cabral,  a  Portuguese,  was  driven  to  the  coast  of 
Brazil  by  a  storm,  "took  possession"  for  Portugal, 
and  founded  a  colony  there. 

As  to  Amerigo  Vespucci,  the  inconsiderable  ad 
venturer  whose  name  so  overshadows  his  exploits, 
his  American  claims  are  extremely  dubious.  Ves 
pucci  was  born  in  Florence  in  1451,  and  was  an 
educated  man,  —  his  father  being  a  notary  and  his 
uncle  a  Dominican  who  gave  him  a  good  schooling. 
He  became  a  clerk  in  the  great  house  of  the  Medi- 
cis,  and  in  their  service  was  sent  to  Spain  about 
1490.  There  he  presently  got  into  the  employ  of 
the  merchant  who  fitted  out  Columbus's  second 
expedition,  —  a  Florentine  named  Juanoto  Berardi. 
When  Berardi  died,  in  1495,  he  left  an  unfinished 
contract  to  fit  out  twelve  ships  for  the  Crown ;  and 
Vespucci  was  intrusted  with  the  completion  of  the 
contract.  There  is  no  reason  whatever  to  believe 


48  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

that  he  accompanied  Columbus  either  on  the  first 
or  the  second  voyage.  According  to  his  own  story, 
he  sailed  from  Cadiz  May  10,  1497  (in  a  Spanish 
expedition),  and  reached  the  mainland  eighteen 
days  before  Cabot  saw  it.  The  statement  of  ency 
clopaedias  that  Vespucci  "  probably  got  as  far  north 
as  Cape  Hatteras  "  is  ridiculous.  The  proof  is  ab 
solute  that  he  never  saw  an  inch  of  the  New  World 
north  of  the  equator.  Returning  to  Spain  in  the 
latter  part  of  1498,  he  sailed  again,  May  16,  1499, 
with  Ojeda,  to  San  Domingo,  a  voyage  on  which  he 
was  absent  about  eighteen  months.  He  left  Lisbon 
on  his  third  voyage,  May  10,  1501,  going  to  Brazil. 
It  is  not  true,  despite  the  encyclopaedias,  that  he 
discovered  and  named  the  Bay  of  Rio  Janeiro  ;  both 
those  honors  belong  to  Cabral,  the  real  discoverer 
and  pioneer  of  Brazil,  and  a  man  of  vastly  greater 
historical  importance  than  Vespucci.  Vespucci's 
fourth  voyage  took  him  from  Lisbon  (June  10, 
1503)  to  Bahia,  and  thence  to  Cape  Frio,  where 
he  built  a  little  fort.  In  1504  he  returned  to  Portu 
gal,  and  in  the  following  year  to  Spain,  where  he 
died  in  1512. 

These  voyages  rest  only  on  Vespucci's  own  state 
ments,  which  are  not  to  be  implicitly  believed.  It 
is  probable  that  he  did  not  sail  at  all  in  1497,  and 
quite  certain  that  he  had  no  share  whatever  in  the 
real  discoveries  in  the  New  World. 

The  name  "  America "  was  first  invented  and 
applied  in  1507  by  an  ill-informed  German  printer, 
named  Waldzeemuller,  who  had  got  hold  of  Amerigo 


MAKING  GEOGRAPHY.  49 

Vespucci's  documents.  History  is  full  of  injustices, 
but  never  a  greater  among  them  all  than  the  chris 
tening  of  America.  It  would  have  been  as  appro 
priate  to  call  it  Walzeemiillera.  The  first  map  of 
America  was  made  in  1500  by  Juan  de  la  Cosa,  a 
Spaniard,  —  and  a  very  funny  map  it  would  seem  to 
the  schoolboy  of  to-day.  The  first  geography  of 
America  was  by  Enciso,  a  Spaniard,  in  1517. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  an  overrated  and  very 
dubious  man  to  those  genuine  but  almost  unheard-of 
Portuguese  heroes,  the  brothers  Gaspard  and  Miguel 
Corte-Real.  Gaspard  sailed  from  Lisbon  in  the 
year  1500,  and  discovered  and  named  Labrador, — 
"the  laborer."  In  1501  he  sailed  again  from 
Portugal  to  the  Arctic,  and  never  returned.  After 
waiting  a  year,  his  brother  Miguel  led  an  expedition 
to  find  and  rescue  him  ;  but  he  too  perished,  with  all 
his  men,  among  the  ice-floes  of  the  Arctic.  A  third 
brother  wished  to  go  in  quest  of  the  lost  explorers, 
but  was  forbidden  by  the  king,  who  himself  sent 
out  a  relief  expedition  of  two  ships  ;  but  no  trace  of 
the  gallant  Corte-Reals,  nor  of  any  of  their  men,  was 
ever  found. 

Such  was  the  pioneering  of  America  up  to  the  end 
of  the  first  decade  of  the  sixteenth  century,  —  a  se 
ries  of  gallant  and  dangerous  voyages  (of  which  only 
the  most  notable  ones  of  the  great  Spanish  inrush 
have  been  mentioned),  resulting  in  a  few  ephemeral 
colonies,  but  important  only  as  a  peep  into  the  doors 
of  the  New  World.  The  real  hardships  and  dangers, 
the  real  exploration  and  conquest  of  the  Americas, 
4 


50  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

began  with  the  decade  from  1510  to  1520,  —  the 
beginning  of  a  century  of  such  exploration  and  con 
quest  as  the  world  never  saw  before  nor  since.  Spain 
had  it  all  to  herself,  save  for  the  heroic  but  compara 
tively  petty  achievements  of  Portugal  in  South  Amer 
ica,  between  the  Spanish  points  of  conquest.  The 
sixteenth  century  in  the  New  World  was  unparalleled 
in  military  history ;  and  it  produced,  or  rather  de 
veloped,  such  men  as  tower  far  above  the  later 
conquerors  in  their  achievement.  Our  part  of  the 
hemisphere  has  never  made  such  startling  chapters 
of  conquest  as  were  carved  in  the  grimmer  wilder 
nesses  to  our  south  by  Cortez,  Pizarro,  Valdivia,  and 
Quesada,  the  greatest  subduers  of  wild  America. 

There  were  at  least  a  hundred  other  early  Spanish 
heroes,  unknown  to  public  fame  and  buried  in  ob 
scurity  until  real  history  shall  give  them  their  well- 
earned  praise.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
these  unremembered  heroes  were  more  capable  of 
great  things  than  our  Israel  Putnams  and  Ethan 
Aliens  and  Francis  Marions  and  Daniel  Boones; 
but  they  did  much  greater  things  under  the  spur  of 
greater  necessity  and  opportunity.  A  hundred  such, 
I  say ;  but  really  the  list  is  too  long  to  be  even  cata 
logued  here ;  and  to  pay  attention  to  their  greater 
brethren  will  fill  this  book.  No  other  mother-nation 
ever  bore  a  hundred  Stanleys  and  four  Julius  Caesars 
in  one  century ;  but  that  is  part  of  what  Spain  did 
for  the  New  World.  Pizarro,  Cortez,  Valdivia,  and 
Quesada  are  entitled  to  be  called  the  Caesars  of  the 
New  World ;  and  no  other  conquests  in  the  history  of 


MAKING   GEOGRAPHY.  51 

America  are  at  all  comparable  to  theirs.  As  among 
the  four,  it  is  almost  difficult  to  say  which  was  great 
est  ;  though  there  is  really  but  one  answer  possible 
to  the  historian.  The  choice  lies  of  course  between 
Cortez  and  Pizarro,  and  for  years  was  wrongly  made. 
Cortez  was  first  in  time,  and  his  operations  seem  to 
us  nearer  home.  He  was  a  highly  educated  man 
for  his  time,  and,  like  Caesar,  had  the  advantage  of 
being  able  to  write  his  own  biography ;  while  his 
distant  cousin  Pizarro  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
but  had  to  "make  his  mark,"  —  a  striking  contrast 
with  the  bold  and  handsome  (for  those  days)  auto 
graph  of  Cortez.  But  Pizarro  —  who  had  this  lack 
of  education  as  a  handicap  from  the  first,  who  went 
through  infinitely  greater  hardships  and  difficulties 
than  Cortez,  and  managed  the  conquest  of  an  area  as 
great  with  a  third  as  many  men  as  Cortez  had,  and 
very  much  more  desperate  and  rebellious  men — was 
beyond  question  the  greatest  Spanish  American,  and 
the  greatest  tamer  of  the  New  World.  It  is  for  that 
reason,  and  because  such  gross  injustice  has  been 
done  him,  that  I  have  chosen  his  marvellous  career, 
to  be  detailed  later  in  this  book,  as  a  picture  of  the 
supreme  heroism  of  the  Spanish  pioneers. 

But  while  Pizarro  was  greatest,  all  four  were 
worthy  the  rank  they  have  been  assigned  as  the 
Caesars  of  America. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  bald-headed  little  great  man 
of  old  Rome,  who  crowds  the  page  of  ancient  his 
tory,  did  nothing  greater  than  each  of  those  four 
Spanish  heroes,  who  with  a  few  tattered  Spaniards 


52  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

in  place  of  the  iron  legions  of  Rome  conquered 
each  an  inconceivable  wilderness  as  savage  as  Caesar 
found,  and  five  times  as  big.  Popular  opinion  long 
did  a  vast  injustice  to  these  and  all  other  of  the 
Spanish  conquistadores,  belittling  their  military 
achievements  on  account  of  their  alleged  great  supe 
riority  of  weapons  over  the  savages,  and  taxing  them 
with  a  cruel  and  relentless  extermination  of  the  ab 
origines.  The  clear,  cold  light  of  true  history  tells 
a  different  tale.  In  the  first  place,  the  advantage  of 
weapons  was  hardly  more  than  a  moral  advantage 
in  inspiring  awe  among  the  savages  at  first,  for  the 
sadly  clumsy  and  ineffective  firearms  of  the  day  were 
scarcely  more  dangerous  than  the  aboriginal  bows 
which  opposed  them.  They  were  effective  at  not 
much  greater  range  than  arrows,  and  were  tenfold 
slower  of  delivery.  As  to  the  cumbrous  and  usually 
dilapidated  armor  of  the  Spaniard  and  his  horse,  it 
by  no  means  fully  protected  either  from  the  agate- 
tipped  arrows  of  the  savages ;  and  it  rendered  both 
man  and  beast  ill-fitted  to  cope  with  their  agile  foes 
in  any  extremity,  besides  being  a  frightful  burden  in 
those  tropic  heats.  The  "artillery"  of  the  times 
was  almost  as  worthless  as  the  ridiculous  arquebuses. 
As  to  their  treatment  of  the  natives,  there  was  incom 
parably  less  cruelty  suffered  by  the  Indians  who  op 
posed  the  Spaniards  than  by  those  who  lay  in  the 
path  of  any  other  European  colonizers.  The  Spanish 
did  not  obliterate  any  aboriginal  nation,  —  as  our 
ancestors  obliterated  scores,  —  but  followed  the  first 
necessarily  bloody  lesson  with  humane  education 


MAKING  GEOGRAPHY.  53 

and  care.  Indeed,  the  actual  Indian  population  of 
the  Spanish  possessions  in  America  is  larger  to-day 
than  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  conquest ;  and  in  that 
astounding  contrast  of  conditions,  and  its  lesson  as 
to  contrast  of  methods,  is  sufficient  answer  to  the 
distorters  of  history. 

Before  we  come  to  the  great  conquerors,  how 
ever,  we  must  outline  the  eventful  career  and  tragic 
end  of  the  discoverer  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Vasco 
Nunez  de  Balboa.  In  one  of  the  noblest  poems  in 
the  English  language  we  read,  — 

"  Like  stout  Cortes,  when  with  eagle  eyes 

He  stared  at  the  Pacific,  and  all  his  men 
Looked  at  each  other  with  a  wild  surmise, 
Silent  upon  a  peak  in  Darien." 

But  Keats  was  mistaken.  It  was  not  Cortez  who 
first  saw  the  Pacific,  but  Balboa,  —  five  years  before 
Cortez  came  to  the  mainland  of  America  at  all. 

Balboa  was  born  in  the  province  of  Estremadura, 
Spain,  in  1475.  In  1501  he  sailed  with  Bastidas  for 
the  New  World,  and  then  saw  Darien,  but  settled  on 
the  island  of  Espanola.  Nine  years  later  he  sailed 
to  Darien  with  Enciso,  and  there  remained.  £,ife 
in  the  New  World  then  was  a  troublous  affair,  and 
the  first  years  of  Balboa's  life  there  were  eventful 
enough,  though  we  must  pass  them  over.  Quarrels 
presently  arose  in  the  colony  of  Darien.  Enciso 
was  deposed  and  shipped  back  to  Spain  a  prisoner, 
and  Balboa  took  command.  Enciso,  upon  his  ar 
rival  in  Spain,  laid  all  the  blame  upon  Balboa,  and 
got  him  condemned  by  the  king  for  high  treason. 


54  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Learning  of  this,  Balboa  determined  upon  a  master 
stroke  whose  brilliancy  should  restore  him  to  the 
royal  favor.  From  the  natives  he  had  heard  of  the 
other  ocean  and  of  Peru,  —  neither  yet  seen  by 
European  eyes,  —  and  made  up  his  mind  to  find 
them.  In  September,  1513,  he  sailed  to  Coyba 
with  one  hundred  and  ninety  men,  and  from  that 
point,  with  only  ninety  followers,  tramped  across 
the  Isthmus  to  the  Pacific,  —  for  its  length  one  of 
the  most  frightful  journeys  imaginable.  It  was  on 
the  26th  of  September,  1513,  that  from  the  summit 
of  the  divide  the  tattered,  bleeding  heroes  looked 
down  upon  the  blue  infinity  of  the  South  Sea,  —  for 
it  was  not  called  the  Pacific  until  long  after.  They 
descended  to  the  coast ;  and  Balboa,  wading  out 
knee-deep  into  the  new  ocean,  holding  aloft  in  Jiis 
right  hand  his  slender  sword,  and  in  his  left  the 
proud  flag  of  Spain,  took  solemn  possession  of  the 
South  Sea  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

The  explorers  got  back  to  Darien  Jan.  18,  1514, 
and  Balboa  sent  to  Spain  an  account  of  his  great 
discovery.  But  Pedro  Arias  de  Avila  had  already 
sailed  from  the  mother  country  to  supplant  him. 
At  last,  however.  Balboa's  brilliant  news  reached 
the  king,  who  forgave  him,  and  made  him  adelan- 
tado;  and  soon  after  he  married  the  daughter  of 
Pedro  Arias.  Still  full  of  great  plans,  Balboa  car 
ried  the  necessary  material  across  the  Isthmus  with 
infinite  toil,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  blue  Pacific 
put  together  the  first  ships  in  the  Americas,  —  two 
brigantines.  With  these  he  took  possession  of  the 


MAKING  GEOGRAPHY.  55 

Pearl  Islands,  and  then  started  out  to  find  Peru,  but 
was  driven  back  by  storms  to  an  ignoble  fate.  His 
father-in-law,  becoming  jealous  of  Balboa's  brilliant 
prospects,  enticed  him  back  to  Darien  by  a  treach 
erous  message,  seized  him,  and  had  him  publicly 
executed,  on  the  trumped-up  charge  of  high  treason, 
in  1517.  Balboa  had  in  him  the  making  of  an  ex 
plorer  of  the  first  rank,  and  but  for  De  Avila's 
shameless  deed  might  probably  have  won  even 
higher  honors.  His  courage  was  sheer  audacity, 
and  his  energy  tireless ;  but  he  was  unwisely  careless 
in  his  attitude  toward  the  Crown. 


56  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

V. 

THE   CHAPTER   OF   CONQUEST. 

WHILE  the  discoverer  of  the  greatest  ocean 
was  still  striving  to  probe  its  farther  mys 
teries,  a  handsome,  athletic,  brilliant  young  Span 
iard,  who  was  destined  to  make  much  more  noise 
in  history,  was  just  beginning  to  be  heard  of  on  the 
threshold  of  America,  of  whose  central  kingdoms  he 
was  soon  to  be  conqueror. 

Hernando  Cortez  came  of  a  noble  but  impoverished 
Spanish  family,  and  was  born  in  Estremadura  ten 
years  later  than  Balboa.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
was  sent  to  the  University  of  Salamanca  to  study  for 
the  law ;  but  the  adventurous  spirit  of  the  man  was 
already  strong  in  the  slender  lad,  and  in  a  couple  of 
years  he  left  college,  and  went  home  determined 
upon  a  life  of  roving.  The  air  was  full  of  Columbus 
and  his  New  World ;  and  what  spirited  youth  could 
stay  to  pore  in  musty  law-books  then?  Not  the 
irrepressible  Hernando,  surely. 

Accidents  prevented  him  from  accompanying  two 
expeditions  for  which  he  had  made  ready ;  but  at 
last,  in  1504,  he  sailed  to  San  Domingo,  in  which 
new  colony  of  Spain  he  made  such  a  record  that 
Ovando,  the  commander,  several  times  promoted 
him,  and  he  earned  the  reputation  of  a  model  sol- 


THE  CHAPTER  OF  CONQUEST,       57 

dier.  In  1511  he  accompanied  Velasquez  to  Cuba, 
and  was  made  alcalde  (judge)  of  Santiago,  where  he 
won  further  praise  by  his  courage  and  firmness  in 
several  important  crises.  Meantime  Francisco  Her 
nandez  de  Cordova,  the  discoverer  of  Yucatan,  —  a 
hero  with  this  mere  mention  of  whom  we  must 
content  ourselves,  —  had  reported  his  important 
discovery.  A  year  later,  Grijalva,  the  lieutenant  of 
Velasquez,  had  followed  Cordova's  course,  and  gone 
farther  north,  until  at  last  he  discovered  Mexico. 
He  made  no  attempt,  however,  to  conquer  or  to 
colonize  the  new  land;  whereat  Velasquez  was  so 
indignant  that  he  threw  Grijalva  in  disgrace,  and 
intrusted  the  conquest  to  Cortez.  The  ambitious 
young  Spaniard  sailed  from  Santiago  (Cuba)  Nov. 
1 8,  1518,  with  less  than  seven  hundred  men  and 
twelve  little  cannon  of  the  class  called  falconets. 
No  sooner  was  he  fairly  off  than  Velasquez  repented 
having  given  him  such  a  chance  for  distinction,  and 
directly  sent  out  a  force  to  arrest  and  bring  him 
bade.  But  Cortez  was  the  idol  of  his  little  army, 
and  secure  in  its  fondness  for  him  he  bade  defiance 
to  the  emissaries  of  Velasquez,  and  held  on  his  way.1 
He  landed  on  the  coast  of  Mexico  March  4,  1519, 
near  where  is  now  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  (the  True 
Cross) ,  which  he  founded,  —  the  first  European 
town  on  the  mainland  of  America  as  far  north  as 
Mexico. 

1  This  mutiny  against  Velasquez  was  the  first  hint  of  the 
unscrupulous  man  who  was  finally  to  turn  complete  traitor 
to  Spain. 


58  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

The  landing  of  the  Spaniards  caused  as  great  a 
sensation  as  would  the  arrival  in  New  York  to-day 
of  an  army  from  Mars.1  The  awe-struck  natives 
had  never  before  seen  a  horse  (for  it  was  the 
Spanish  who  brought  the  first  horses,  cattle,  sheep, 
and  other  domestic  animals  to  the  New  World), 
and  decided  that  these  strange,  pale  new-comers 
who  sat  on  four-legged  beasts,  and  had  shirts  of 
iron  and  sticks  that  made  thunder,  must  indeed  be 
gods. 

Here  the  adventurers  were  inflamed  by  golden 
stories  of  Montezuma,  —  a  myth  which  befooled 
Cortez  no  more  egregiously  than  it  has  befooled 
some  modern  historians,  who  seem  unable  to  dis 
criminate  between  what  Cortez  heard  and  what  he 
found.  He  was  told  that  Montezuma  —  whose  name 
is  properly  Moctezuma,  or  Motecuzoma,  meaning 
"Our  Angry  Chief"  —  was  "emperor"  of  Mex 
ico,  and  that  thirty  "  kings,"  called  caciques,  were 
his  vassals;  that  he  had  incalculable  wealth  and 
absolute  power,  and  dwelt  in  a  blaze  of  gold  and 
precious  stones  !  Even  some  most  charming  his 
torians  have  fallen  into  the  sad  blunder  of  accept 
ing  these  impossible  myths.  Mexico  never  had 
but  two  emperors,  —  Augustin  de  Iturbide  and  the 
hapless  Maximilian,  —  both  in  this  present  century ; 
and  Moctezuma  was  neither  its  emperor  nor  even 
its  king.  The  social  and  political  organization  of 
the  ancient  Mexicans  was  exactly  like  that  of  the 

1  Tezozomoc,  the  Indian  historian,  graphically  describes 
the  wonder  of  the  natives. 


THE  CHAPTER  OP  CONQUEST.  59 

Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico  at  the  present  day, 
—  a  military  democracy,  with  a  mighty  and  com 
plicated  religious  organization  as  its  "  power  behind 
the  throne."  Moctezuma  was  merely  Tlacate"cutle, 
or  head  war-chief  of  the  Nahuatl  (the  ancient  Mexi 
cans),  and  neither  the  supreme  nor  the  only  execu 
tive.  Of  just  how  little  importance  he  really  was 
may  be  gathered  from  his  fate. 

Having  founded  Vera  Cruz,  Cortez  caused  him 
self  to  be  elected  governor  and  captain-general  (the 
highest  military  rank)  l  of  the  new  country;  and 
having  burned  his  ships,  like  the  famous  Greek  com 
mander,  that  there  might  be  no  retreat,  he  began 
his  march  into  the  grim  wilderness  before  him. 

It  was  now  that  Cortez  began  to  show  particu 
larly  that  military  genius  which  lifted  him  so  far 
above  all  other  pioneers  of  America  except  Pizarro. 
With  only  a  handful  of  men,  —  for  he  had  left  part 
of  his  forces  at  Vera  Cruz,  under  his  lieutenant 
Escalante,  —  in  an  unknown  land  swarming  with 
powerful  and  savage  foes,  mere  courage  and  brute 
force  would  have  stood  him  in  little  stead.  But 
with  a  diplomacy  as  rare  as  it  was  brilliant,  he 
found  the  weak  spots  in  the  Indian  organization, 
widened  the  jealous  breaches  between  tribes,  made 
allies  of  those  who  were  secretly  or  openly  opposed 
to  Moctezuma's  federation  of  tribes,  —  a  league 
which  somewhat  resembled  the  Six  Nations  of  our 
own  history,  —  and  thus  vastly  reduced  the  forces  to 
be  directly  conquered.  Having  routed  the  tribes  of 

1  Another  specific  act  of  treason. 


60  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Tlacala  (pronounced  Tlash-cah-lah)  and  Cholula, 
Cortez  came  at  last  to  the  strange  lake-city  of 
Mexico,  with  his  little  Spanish  troop  swelled  by  six 
thousand  Indian  allies.  Moctezuma  received  him 
with  great  ceremony,  but  undoubtedly  with  treach 
erous  intent.  While  he  was  entertaining  his  visitors 
in  one  of  the  huge  adobe  houses,  —  not  a  "  palace," 
as  the  histories  tell  us,  for  there  were  no  palaces 
whatever  in  Mexico,  —  one  of  the  sub-chiefs  of  his 
league  attacked  Escalante's  little  garrison  at  Vera 
Cruz  and  killed  several  Spaniards,  including  Esca- 
lante  himself.  The  head  of  the  Spanish  lieutenant 
was  sent  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  —  for  the  Indians 
south  of  what  is  now  the  United  States  took  not 
merely  the  scalp  but  the  whole  head  of  an  enemy. 
This  was  a  direful  disaster,  not  so  much  for  the  loss  of 
the  few  men  as  because  it  proved  to  the  Indians  (as 
the  senders  intended  it  to  prove)  that  the  Spaniards 
were  not  immortal  gods  after  all,  but  could  be  killed 
the  same  as  other  men. 

As  soon  as  Cortez  heard  the  ill  news  he  saw  this 
danger  at  once,  and  made  a  bold  stroke  to  save 
himself.  He  had  already  strongly  fortified  the 
adobe  building  in  which  the  Spaniards  were  quar 
tered  ;  and  now,  going  by  night  with  his  officers  to 
the  house  of  the  head  war-captain,  he  seized  Mocte 
zuma  and  threatened  to  kill  him  unless  he  at  once 
gave  up  the  Indians  who  had  attacked  Vera  Cruz. 
Moctezuma  delivered  them  up,  and  Cortez  at  once 
had  them  burned  in  public.  This  was  a  cruel  thing, 
though  it  was  undoubtedly  necessary  to  make  some 


THE   CHAPTER   OF  CONQUEST.  6 1 

vivid  impression  on  the  savages  or  be  at  once  and 
nihilated  by  them.  There  is  no  apology  for  this 
barbarity,  yet  it  is  only  just  that  we  measure  Cortez 
by  the  standard  of  his  time,  —  and  it  was  a  very 
cruel  world  everywhere  then. 

It  is  amusing  here  to  read  in  pretentious  text 
books  that  "Cortez  now  ironed  Montezuma  and 
made  him  pay  a  ransom  of  six  hundred  thousand 
marks  of  pure  gold  and  an  immense  quantity  of 
precious  stones."  That  is  on  a  par  with  the  impos 
sible  fables  which  lured  so  many  of  the  early  Span 
iards  to  disappointment  and  death,  and  is  a  fair 
sample  of  the  gilded  glamour  with  which  equally 
credulous  historians  still  surround  early  America. 
Moctezuma  did  not  buy  himself  free,  —  he  never  was 
free  again,  —  and  he  paid  no  ransom  of  gold  ;  while 
as  for  precious  stones,  he  may  have  had  a  few  native 
garnets  and  worthless  green  turquoises,  and  perhaps 
even  an  emerald  pebble,  but  nothing  more. 

Just  at  this  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  Cortez  he  was 
threatened  from  another  quarter.  News  came  that 
Pamfilo  de  Narvaez,  of  whom  we  shall  see  more 
presently,  had  landed  with  eight  hundred  men  to 
arrest  Cortez  and  carry  him  back  prisoner  for  his 
disobedience  of  Velasquez.  But  here  again  the 
genius  of  the  conqueror  of  Mexico  saved  him. 
Marching  against  Narvaez  with  one  hundred  and 
forty  men,  he  arrested  Narvaez,  enlisted  under  his 
own  banner  the  welcome  eight  hundred  who  had 
come  to  arrest  him,  and  hastened  back  to  the  City 
of  Mexico. 


62  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Here  he  found  matters  growing  daily  to  more 
deadly  menace.  Alvarado,  whom  he  had  left  in 
command,  had  apparently  precipitated  trouble  by 
attacking  an  Indian  dance.  Wanton  as  that  may 
seem  and  has  been  charged  with  being,  it  was  only 
a  military  necessity,  recognized  by  all  who  really 
know  the  aborigines  even  to  this  day.  The  closet- 
explorers  have  pictured  the  Spaniards  as  wickedly 
falling  upon  an  aboriginal  festival ;  but  that  is  sim 
ply  because  of  ignorance  of  the  subject.  An  Indian 
dance  is  not  a  festival ;  it  is  generally,  and  was  in 
this  case,  a  grim  rehearsal  for  murder.  An  Indian 
never  dances  "for  fun,"  and  his  dances  too  often 
mean  anything  but  fun  for  other  people.  In  a  word, 
Alvarado,  seeing  in  progress  a  dance  which  was 
plainly  only  the  superstitious  prelude  to  a  massacre, 
had  tried  to  arrest  the  medicine-men  and  other 
ringleaders.  Had  he  succeeded,  the  trouble  would 
have  been  over  for  a  time  at  least.  But  the  Indians 
were  too  numerous  for  his  little  force,  and  the  chief 
instigators  of  war  escaped. 

When  Cortez  came  back  with  his  eight  hundred 
strangely-acquired  recruits,  he  found  the  whole  city 
with  its  mask  thrown  off,  and  his  men  penned  up 
in  their  barracks.  The  savages  quietly  let  Cortez 
enter  the  trap,  and  then  closed  it  so  that  there  was 
no  more  getting  out.  There  were  the  few  hundred 
Spaniards  cooped  up  in  their  prison,  and  the  four 
dykes  which  were  the  only  approaches  to  it  —  for  the 
City  of  Mexico  was  an  American  Venice  —  swarm 
ing  with  savage  foes  by  the  countless  thousands. 


THE  CHAPTER  OF  CONQUEST.       63 

The  Indian  makes  very  few  excuses  for  failure ; 
and  the  Nahuatl  had  already  elected  a  new  head 
war-captain  named  Cuitlahuatzin  in  place  of  the 
unsuccessful  Moctezuma.  The  latter  was  still  a 
prisoner ;  and  when  the  Spaniards  brought  him 
out  upon  the  house-top  to  speak  to  his  people  in 
their  behalf,  the  infuriated  multitude  of  Indians 
pelted  him  to  death  with  stones.  Then,  under 
their  new  war-captain,  they  attacked  the  Spaniards 
so  furiously  that  neither  the  strong  walls  nor  the 
clumsy  falconets,  and  clumsier  flintlocks,  could 
withstand  them;  and  there  was  nothing  for  the 
Spaniards  but  to  cut  their  way  out  along  one  of  the 
dykes  in  a  last  desperate  struggle  for  life.  The 
beginning  of  that  six  days'  retreat  was  one  of  the 
bitterest  pages  in  American  history.  Then  was  the 
Noche  Triste  (the  Sad  Night),  still  celebrated  in 
Spanish  song  and  story.  For  that  dark  night  many 
a  proud  home  in  mother  Spain  was  never  bright 
again,  and  many  a  fond  heart  broke  with  the  crim 
son  bubbles  on  the  Lake  of  Tezcuco.  In  those  few 
ghastly  hours  two  thirds  of  the  conquerors  were 
slain ;  and  across  more  than  eight  hundred  Spanish 
corpses  the  frenzied  savages  pursued  the  bleeding 
survivors. 

After  a  fearful  retreat  of  six  days,  came  the  impor 
tant  running  fight  in  the  plains  of  Otumba,  where 
the  Spaniards  were  entirely  surrounded,  but  cut 
their  way  out  after  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  strug 
gle  which  really  decided  the  fate  of  Mexico.  Cor- 
tez  marched  to  Tlacala,  raised  an  army  of  Indians 


64  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

who  were  hostile  to  the  federation,  and  with  their 
help  laid  siege  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  This  siege 
lasted  seventy-three  days,  and  was  the  most  remark 
able  in  the  history  of  all  America.  There  was  hard 
fighting  every  day.  The  Indians  made  a  superb 
defence  ;  but  at  last  the  genius  of  Cortez  triumphed, 
and  on  the  i3th  of  August,  1521,  he  marched  vic 
torious  into  the  second  greatest  aboriginal  city  in 
the  New  World. 

These  wonderful  exploits  of  Cortez,  so  briefly 
outlined  here,  awoke  boundless  admiration  in  Spain, 
and  caused  the  Crown  to  overlook  his  insubordina 
tion  to  Velasquez.  The  complaints  of  Velasquez 
were  disregarded,  and  Charles  V.  appointed  Cortez 
governor  and  captain-general  of  Mexico,  besides 
making  him  Marquis  de  Oaxaca  with  a  handsome 
revenue. 

Safely  established  in  this  high  authority,  Cortez 
crushed  a  plot  against  him,  and  executed  the  new 
war-captain,  with  many  of  the  caciques  (who  were 
not  potentates  at  all,  but  religious-military  officers, 
whose  hold  on  the  superstitions  of  the  Indians  made 
them  dangerous). 

But  Cortez,  whose  genius  shone  only  the  brighter 
when  the  difficulties  and  dangers  before  him  seemed 
insurmountable,  tripped  up  on  that  which  has  thrown 
so  many,  —  success.  Unlike  his  unlearned  but  nobler 
and  greater  cousin  Pizarro,  prosperity  spoiled  him, 
and  turned  his  head  and  his  heart.  Despite  the 
unstudious  criticisms  of  some  historians,  Cortez  was 
not  a  cruel  conqueror.  He  was  not  only  a  great 


THE  CHAPTER  OF  CONQUEST.       65 

military  genius,  but  was  very  merciful  to  the  Indians, 
and  was  much  beloved  by  them.  The  so-called 
massacre  at  Cholula  was  not  a  blot  on  his  career  as 
has  been  alleged.  The  truth,  as  vindicated  at  last 
by  real  history,  is  this :  The  Indians  had  treach 
erously  drawn  him  into  a  trap  under  pretext  ol 
friendship.  Not  until  too  late  to  retreat  did  he  learn 
that  the  savages  meant  to  massacre  him.  When  he 
did  see  his  danger,  there  was  but  one  chance,  — 
namely,  to  surprise  the  surprisers,  to  strike  them 
before  they  were  ready  to  strike  him ;  and  this  is 
only  what  he  did.  Cholula  was  simply  a  case  of 
the  biter  bitten. 

No,  Cortez  was  not  cruel  to  the  Indians ;  but  as 
soon  as  his  rule  was  established  he  became  a  cruel 
tyrant  to  his  own  countrymen,  a  traitor  to  his  friends 
and  even  to  his  king,  —  and,  worst  of  all,  a  cool 
assassin.  There  is  strong  evidence  that  he  had 
"  removed  "  several  persons  who  were  in  the  way  of 
his  unholy  ambitions ;  and  the  crowning  infamy 
was  in  the  fate  of  his  own  wife.  Cortez  had  long 
for  a  mistress  the  handsome  Indian  girl  Malinche ; 
but  after  he  had  conquered  Mexico,  his  lawful  wife 
came  to  the  country  to  share  his  fortunes.  He  did 
not  love  her.  however,  as  much  as  he  did  his  ambi 
tion  ;  and  she  was  in  his  way.  At  last  she  was  found 
in  her  bed  one  morning,  strangled  to  death. 

Carried  away  by  his  ambition,  he  actually  plotted 

open  rebellion  against  Spain  and  to  make  himself 

emperor  of  Mexico.     The  Crown  got  wind  of  this 

precious  plan,  and  sent  out  emissaries  who  seized 

S 


66  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

his  goods,  imprisoned  his  men,  and  prepared  to 
thwart  his  secret  schemes.  Cortez  boldly  hastened 
to  Spain,  where  he  met  his  sovereign  with  great 
splendor.  Charles  received  him  well,  and  deco 
rated  him  with  the  illustrious  Order  of  Santiago,  the 
patron  saint  of  Spain.  But  his  star  was  already 
declining ;  and  though  he  was  allowed  to  return  to 
Mexico  with  undiminished  outward  power,  he  was 
thenceforth  watched,  and  did  nothing  more  that  was 
comparable  with  his  wonderful  earlier  achievements. 
He  had  become  too  unscrupulous,  too  vindictive, 
and  too  unsafe  to  be  left  in  authority ;  and  after  a 
few  years  the  Crown  was  forced  to  appoint  a  vice 
roy  to  wield  the  civil  power  of  Mexico,  leaving  to 
Cortez  only  the  military  command,  and  permission 
for  further  conquests.  In  1536  Cortez  discovered 
Lower  California,  and  explored  part  of  its  gulf.  At 
last,  disgusted  with  his  inferior  position  where  he 
had  once  been  supreme,  he  returned  to  Spain,  where 
the  emperor  received  him  coldly.  In  1541  he  ac 
companied  his  sovereign  to  Algiers  as  an  attache", 
and  in  the  wars  there  acquitted  himself  well.  Soon 
after  their  return  to  Spain,  however,  he  found  him 
self  neglected.  It  is  said  that  one  day  when  Charles 
was  riding  in  state,  Cortez  forced  his  way  to  the 
royal  carriage  and  mounted  upon  the  step  deter 
mined  to  force  recognition. 

"Who  are  you? "  demanded  the  angry  emperor. 

"A  man,  your  Highness,"  retorted  the  haughty 
conqueror  of  Mexico,  "who  has  given  you  more 
provinces  than  your  forefathers  left  you  cities  !  " 


THE  CHAPTER  OP  CONQUEST.       67 

Whether  the  story  is  true  or  not,  it  graphically 
illustrates  the  arrogance  as  well  as  the  services  of 
Cortez.  He  lacked  the  modest  balance  of  the 
greatest  greatness,  just  as  Columbus  had  lacked  it. 
The  self-assertion  of  either  would  have  been  impos 
sible  to  the  greater  man  than  either,  —  the  self- 
possessed  Pizarro. 

At  last,  in  disgust,  Cortez  retired  from  court ;  and 
on  the  2d  of  December,  1554,  the  man  who  had 
first  opened  the  interior  of  America  to  the  world 
died  near  Seville. 

There  were  some  in  South  America  whose  achieve 
ments  were  as  wondrous  as  those  of  Cortez  in  Mex 
ico.  The  conquest  of  the  two  continents  was  prac 
tically  contemporaneous,  and  equally  marked  by  the 
highest  military  genius,  the  most  dauntless  courage, 
the  overcoming  of  dangers  which  were  appalling,  and 
hardships  which  were  wellnigh  superhuman. 

Francisco  Pizarro,  the  unlettered  but  invincible 
conqueror  of  Peru,  was  fifteen  years  older  than  his 
brilliant  cousin  Cortez,  and  was  born  in  the  same 
province  of  Spain.  He  began  to  be  heard  of  in 
America  in  1510.  From  1524  to  1532  he  was 
making  superhuman  efforts  to  get  to  the  unknown 
and  golden  land  of  Peru,  overcoming  such  obstacles 
as  not  even  Columbus  had  encountered,  and  endur 
ing  greater  dangers  and  hardships  than  Napoleon  or 
Caesar  ever  met.  From  1532  to  his  death  in  1541, 
he  was  busy  in  conquering  and  exploring  that  enor 
mous  area,  and  founding  a  new  nation  amid  its 
fierce  tribes,  —  fighting  off  not  only  the  vast  hordes 


68  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

of  Indians,  but  also  the  desperate  men  of  his  own 
forces,  by  whose  treachery  he  at  last  perished. 
Pizarro  found  and  tamed  the  richest  country  in  the 
New  World ;  and  with  all  his  unparalleled  sufferings 
still  realized,  more  than  any  other  of  the  conquer 
ors,  the  golden  dreams  which  all  pursued.  Prob 
ably  no  other  conquest  in  the  world's  history  yielded 
such  rapid  and  bewildering  wealth,  as  certainly  none 
was  bought  more  dearly  in  hardship  and  heroism. 
Pizarro's  conquest  has  been  most  unjustly  dealt  with 
by  some  historians  ignorant  of  the  real  facts  in  the 
case,  and  blinded  by  prejudice;  but  that  marvellous 
story,  told  in  detail  farther  on,  is  coming  to  its 
proper  rank  as  one  of  the  most  stupendous  and 
gallant  feats  in  all  history.  It  is  the  story  of  a  hero 
to  whom  every  true  American,  young  or  old,  will  be 
glad  to  do  justice.  Pizarro  has  been  long  misrep 
resented  as  a  blood-stained  and  cruel  conqueror,  a 
selfish,  unprincipled,  unreliable  man;  but  in  the 
clear,  true  light  of  real  history  he  stands  forth  now 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  self-made  men,  and  one 
who,  considering  his  chances,  deserves  the  utmost 
respect  and  admiration  for  the  man  he  made  of 
himself.  The  conquest  of  Peru  did  not  by  far 
cause  as  much  bloodshed  as  the  final  reduction  of 
the  Indian  tribes  of  Virginia.  It  counted  scarcely 
as  many  Indian  victims  as  King  Philip's  War,  and 
was  much  less  bloody,  because  more  straightforward 
and  honorable,  than  any  of  the  British  conquests  in 
East  India.  The  most  bloody  events  in  Peru  came 
after  the  conquest  was  over,  when  the  Spaniards 


THE  CHAPTER  OF  CONQUEST.  69 

fell  to  fighting  one  another ;  and  in  this  Pizarro  was 
not  the  aggressor  but  the  victim.  It  was  the  treach 
ery  of  his  own  allies,  —  the  men  whose  fames  and  for 
tunes  he  had  made.  His  conquest  covered  a  land 
as  big  as  California,  Oregon,  and  most  of  Washing 
ton,  —  or  as  our  whole  seaboard  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  Port  Royal  and  two  hundred  miles  inland,  — 
swarming  with  the  best  organized  and  most  advanced 
Indians  in  the  Western  Hemisphere ;  and  he  did  it 
all  with  less  than  three  hundred  gaunt  and  tattered 
men.  He  was  one  of  the  great  captains  of  all 
time,  and  almost  as  remarkable  as  organizer  and 
executive  of  a  new  empire,  the  first  on  the  Pacific 
shore  of  the  southern  continent.  To  this  greatness 
rose  the  friendless,  penniless,  ignorant  swineherd  of 
Truxillo  ! 

Pedro  de  Valdivia,  the  conqueror  of  Chile,  sub 
dued  that  vast  area  of  the  deadly  Araucanians  with 
an  "  army  "  of  two  hundred  men.  He  established  the 
first  colony  in  Chile  in  1540,  and  in  the  following 
February  founded  the  present  city  of  Santiago  de 
Chile.  Of  his  long  and  deadly  wars  with  the  Arau 
canians  there  is  not  space  to  speak  here.  He  was 
killed  by  the  savages  Dec.  3,  1553,  with  nearly  all 
his  men,  after  an  indescribably  desperate  struggle. 

There  is  not  space  to  tell  here  of  the  wondrous  do 
ings  in  the  southern  continent  or  the  lower  point  of 
this,  —  the  conquest  of  Nicaragua  by  Gil  Gonzales 
Davila  in  1523  ;  the  conquest  of  Guatemala,  by  Pedro 
de  Alvarado,  in  1524  ;  that  of  Yucatan  by  Francisco 
de  Montijo,  beginning  in  15  26  ;  that  of  New  Granada 


70  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

by  Gonzalo  Ximenez  de  Quesada,  in  1536  ;  the  con 
quests  and  exploration  of  Bolivia,  the  Amazon,  and 
the  Orinoco  (to  whose  falls  the  Spaniards  had  pene 
trated  by  1530,  by  almost  superhuman  efforts)  ;  the 
unparalleled  Indian  wars  with  the  Araucanians  in 
Chile  (for  two  centuries) ,  with  the  Tarrahumares  in 
Chihuahua,  the  Tepehuanes  in  Durango,  the  still  un 
tamed  Yaquis  in  northwestern  Mexico ;  the  exploits 
of  Captain  Martin  de  Hurdaide  (the  Daniel  Boone 
of  Sinaloa  and  Sonora)  ;  and  of  hundreds  of  other 
unrecorded  Spanish  heroes,  who  would  have  been 
world-renowned  had  they  been  more  accessible  to 
the  fame-maker. 


A   GIRDLE  ROUND  THE    WORLD.  71 


VI. 

A   GIRDLE   ROUND   THE   WORLD. 

BEFORE  Cortez  had  yet  conquered  Mexico, 
or  Pizarro  or  Valdivia  seen  the  lands  with 
which  their  names  were  to  be  linked  for  all  time, 
other  Spaniards  —  less  conquerors,  but  as  great 
explorers  —  were  rapidly  shaping  the  geography  of 
the  New  World.  France,  too,  had  aroused  some 
what;  and  in  1500  her  brave  son  Captain  de 
Gonneville  sailed  to  Brazil.  But  between  him  and 
the  next  pioneer,  who  was  a  Florentine  in  French 
pay,  was  a  gap  of  twenty-four  years;  and  in  that 
time  Spain  had  accomplished  four  most  important 
feats. 

Fernao  Magalhaes,  whom  we  know  as  Ferdinand 
Magellan,  was  born  in  Portugal  in  1470;  and 
on  reaching  manhood  adopted  the  seafaring  life, 
to  which  his  adventurous  disposition  prompted. 
The  Old  World  was  then  ringing  with  the  New; 
and  Magellan  longed  to  explore  the  Americas. 
Being  very  shabbily  treated  by  the  King  of  Por 
tugal,  he  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  Spain,  where 
his  talents  found  recognition.  He  sailed  from  Spain 
in  command  of  a  Spanish  expedition,  August  10, 
1519;  and  steering  farther  south  than  ever  man 


72  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

had  sailed  before,  he  discovered  Cape  Horn,  and 
the  Straits  which  bear  his  name.  Fate  did  not 
spare  him  to  carry  his  discoveries  farther,  nor  to 
reap  the  reward  of  those  he  had  made ;  for  during 
this  voyage  (in  1521)  he  was  butchered  by  the 
natives  of  one  of  the  islands  of  the  Moluccas.  His 
heroic  lieutenant,  Juan  Sebastian  de  Elcano,  then 
took  command,  and  continued  the  voyage  until  he 
had  circumnavigated  the  globe  for  the  first  time  in 
its  history.  Upon  his  return  to  Spain,  th6  Crown 
rewarded  his  brilliant  achievements,  and  gave  him, 
among  other  honors,  a  coat-of-arms  emblazoned 
with  a  globe  and  the  motto,  Tu  primum  circum- 
dedisti  me,  —  "  Thou  first  didst  go  around  me." 

Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  the  discoverer  of  Florida,  — 
the  first  State  of  our  Union  that  was  seen  by  Euro 
peans,  —  was  as  ill-fated  an  explorer  as  Magellan ; 
for  he  came  to  "  the  Flowery  Land  "  (to  which  he 
had  been  lured  by  the  wild  myth  of  a  fountain  of 
perennial  youth)  only  to  be  slain  by  its  savages. 
De  Leon  was  born  in  San  Servas,  Spain,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  He  was  the 
conqueror  of  the  island  of  Puerto  Rico,  and  sailing 
in  1512  to  find  Florida,  —  of  which  he  had  heard 
through  the  Indians,  —  discovered  the  new  land  in 
the  same  year,  and  took  possession  of  it  for  Spain. 
He  was  given  the  title  of  adelantado  of  Florida, 
and  in  1521  returned  with  three  ships  to  conquer 
his  new  country,  but  was  at  once  wounded  mortally 
in  a  fight  with  the  Indians,  and  died  on  his  return 
to  Cuba.  He,  by  the  way,  was  one  of  the  bold 


A   GIRDLE  ROUND    THE    WORLD.  73 

Spaniards  who  accompanied  Columbus  on  his  sec 
ond  voyage  to  America,  in  1493. 

More  of  the  credit  of  Florida  belongs  to  Her- 
nando  de  Soto.  That  gallant  conquistador  was  born 
in  Estremadura,  Spain,  about  1496.  Pedro  Arias 
de  Avila  took  a  liking  to  his  bright  young  kinsman, 
helped  him  to  obtain  a  university  education,  and  in 
1519  took  him  along  on  his  expedition  to  Darien. 
De  Soto  won  golden  opinions  in  the  New  World, 
and  came  to  be  trusted  as  a  prudent  yet  fearless 
officer.  In  1528  he  commanded  an  expedition  to 
explore  the  coast  of  Guatemala  and  Yucatan,  and 
in  1532  led  a  reinforcement  of  three  hundred  men 
to  assist  Pizarro  in  the  conquest  of  Peru.  In  that 
golden  land  De  Soto  captured  great  wealth  •  and  the 
young  soldier  of  fortune,  who  had  landed  in  America 
with  no  more  than  his  sword  and  shield,  returned  to 
Spain  with  what  was  in  those  days  an  enormous 
fortune.  There  he  married  a  daughter  of  his  bene 
factor  De  Avila,  and  thus  became  brother-in-law 
of  the  dis 
coverer  of 
the  Pacific, 
—  Balboa. 
De  Soto  lent 
part  of  his 

soon-earned  Autograph  of  Hernando  de  Soto. 

fortune     to 

Charles  V.,  whose  constant  wars  had  drained  the 
royal  coffers,  and  Charles  sent  him  out  as  governor 
of  Cuba  and  adelantado  of  the  new  province  of 


74 


THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


Florida.  He  sailed  in  1538  with  an  army  of  six  hun 
dred  men,  richly  equipped,  —  a  company  of  adven 
turous  Spaniards  attracted  to  the  banner  of  their 
famous  countryman  by  the  desire  for  discovery  and 
gold.  The  expedition  landed  in  Florida,  at  Espiritu 
Santo  Bay,  in  May,  1539,  and  re-took  possession  of 
the  unguessed  wilderness  for  Spain. 

But  the  brilliant  success  which  had  attended  De 
Soto  in  the  highlands  of  Peru  seemed  to  desert  him 
altogether  in  the  swamps  of  Florida.  It  is  note 
worthy  that  nearly  all  the  explorers  who  did  wonders 
in  South  America  failed  when  their  operations  were 
transferred  to  the  northern  continent.  The  physical 
geography  of  the  two  was  so  absolutely  unlike,  that, 
after  becoming  accustomed  to  the  necessities  of  the 
one,  the  explorer  seemed  unable  to  adapt  himself  to 
the  contrary  conditions  of  the  other. 

De  Soto  and  his  men  wandered  through  the 
southern  part  of  what  is  now  the  United  States  for 
four  ghastly  years.  It  is  probable  that  their  travels 
took  them  through  the  present  States  of  Florida, 
Georgia,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
and  the  northeastern  corner  of  Texas.  In  1541 
they  reached  the  Mississippi  River ;  and  theirs  were 
the  first  European  eyes  to  look  upon  the  Father  of 
Waters,  anywhere  save  at  its  mouth,  —  a  century  and 
a  quarter  before  the  heroic  Frenchmen  Marquette 
and  La  Salle  saw  it.  They  spent  that  winter  along 
the  Washita;  and  in  the  early  summer  of  1542,  as 
they  were  returning  down  the  Mississippi,  brave  De 
Soto  died,  and  his  body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
bosom  of  the  mighty  river  he  had  discovered,  —  two 


A   GIRDLE  ROUND    THE   WORLD.  75 

centuries  before  any  "  American  "  saw  it.  His  suf 
fering  and  disheartened  men  passed  a  frightful 
winter  there;  and  in  1543,  under  command  of  the 
Lieutenant  Moscoso,  they  built  rude  vessels,  and 
sailed  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  in  nineteen 
days,  —  the  first  navigation  in  our  part  of  America. 
From  the  Delta  they  made  their  way  westward  along 
the  coast,  and  at  last  reached  Panuco,  Mexico,  after 
such  a  five  years  of  hardship  and  suffering  as  no 
Saxon  explorer  of  America  ever  experienced.  It 
was  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  after  De  Soto's 
gaunt  army  of  starving  men  had  taken  Louisiana 
for  Spain  that  it  became  a  French  possession,  — 
which  the  United  States  bought  from  France  over  a 
century  later  yet. 

So  when  Verazzano  —  the  Florentine  sent  out  by 
France  —  reached  America  in  1524,  coasted  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  from  somewhere  about  South 
Carolina  to  Newfoundland,  and  gave  the  world  a 
short  description  of  what  he  saw,  Spain  had  circum 
navigated  the  globe,  reached  the  southern  tip  of  the 
New  World,  conquered  a  vast  territory,  and  discov 
ered  at  least  half-a-dozen  of  our  present  States,  since 
the  last  visit  of  a  Frenchman  to  America.  As  for 
England,  she  was  almost  as  unheard  of  still  on  this 
side  of  the  earth  as  though  she  had  never  existed. 

Between  De  Leon  and  De  Soto,  Florida  was 
visited  in  1518  by  Francisco  de  Garay,  the  con 
queror  of  Tampico.  He  came  to  subdue  the 
Flowery  Land,  but  failed,  and  died  soon  after  in 
Mexico,  —  the  probability  being  that  he  was  poi 
soned  by  order  of  Cortez.  He  left  even  less  mark 


7  6  THE  SPANISH  PIONEEKS. 

on  Florida  than  did  De  Leon,  and  belongs  to  the 
class  of  Spanish  explorers  who,  though  real  heroes, 
achieved  unimportant  results,  and  are  too  numerous 
to  be  even  catalogued  here. 

In  1527  there  sailed  from  Spain  the  most  disas 
trous  expedition  which  was  ever  sent  to  the  New 
World,  —  an  expedition  notable  but  for  two  things, 
that  it  was  perhaps  the  saddest  in  history,  and  that 
it  brought  the  man  who  first  of  all  men  crossed  the 
American  continent,  and  indeed  made  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  walks  since  the  world  began.  Panfilo 
de  Narvaez  —  who  had  so  ignominiously  failed  in  his 
attempt  to  arrest  Cortez  —  was  commander,  with 
authority  to  conquer  Florida ;  and  his  treasurer  was 
Alvar  Nunez  Cabeza  de  Vaca.  In  1528  the  company 
landed  in  Florida,  and  forthwith  began  a  record 
of  horror  that  makes  the  blood  run  cold.  Ship 
wreck,  savages,  and  starvation  made  such  havoc  with 
the  doomed  band  that  when  in  1529  Vaca  and  three 
companions  found  themselves  slaves  to  the  Indians 
they  were  the  sole  survivors  of  the  expedition. 

Vaca  and  his  companions  wandered  from  Florida 
to  the  Gulf  of  California,  suffering  incredible  dan 
gers  and  tortures,  reaching  there  after  a  wandering 
which  lasted  over  eight  years.  Vaca's  heroism  was 
rewarded.  The  king  made  him  governor  of  Para 
guay  in  1540  ;  but  he  was  as  unfit  for  such  a  post  as 
Columbus  had  been  for  a  viceroy,  and  soon  came 
back  in  irons  to  Spain,  where  he  died. 

But  it  was  through  his  accounts  of  what  he  saw  in 
that  astounding  journey  (for  Vaca  was  an  educated 


A   GIRDLE  ROUND   THE   WORLD.  77 

man,  and  has  left  us  two  very  interesting  and  valuable 
books)  that  his  countrymen  were  roused  to  begin  in 
earnest  the  exploration  and  colonization  of  what  is 
now  the  United  States,  —  to  build  the  first  cities  and 
till  the  first  farms  of  the  greatest  nation  on  earth. 

The  thirty  years  following  the  conquest  of  Mexico 
by  Cortez  saw  an  astounding  change  in  the  New 
World.  They  were  brimful  of  wonders.  Brilliant 
discovery,  unparalleled  exploration,  gallant  conquest, 
and  heroic  colonization  followed  one  another  in  a 
bewildering  rush,  —  and  but  for  the  brave  yet  lim 
ited  exploits  of  the  Portuguese  in  South  America, 
Spain  was  all  alone  in  it.  From  Kansas  to  Cape 
Horn  was  one  vast  Spanish  possession,  save  parts  of 
Brazil  where  the  Portuguese  hero  Cabral  had  taken 
a  joint  foothold  for  his  country.  Hundreds  of 
Spanish  towns  had  been  built ;  Spanish  schools, 
universities,  printing-presses,  books,  and  churches 
were  beginning  their  work  of  enlightenment  in  the 
dark  continents  of  America,  and  the  tireless  follow 
ers  of  Santiago  were  still  pressing  on.  America, 
particularly  Mexico,  was  being  rapidly  settled  by 
Spaniards.  The  growth  of  the  colonies  was  very 
remarkable  for  those  times,  —  that  is,  where  there 
were  any  resources  to  support  a  growing  population. 
The  city  of  Puebla,  for  instance,  in  the  Mexican 
State  of  the  same  name,  was  founded  in  1532  and 
began  with  thirty- three  settlers.  In  1678  it  had 
eighty  thousand  people,  which  is  twenty  thousand 
more  than  New  York  city  had  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  years  later. 


78  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


VII. 

SPAIN    IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

CORTEZ  was  still  captain-general  when  Cabeza  de 
Vaca  came  into  the  Spanish  settlements  from 
his  eight  years'  wandering,  with  news  of  strange 
countries  to  the  north  ;  but  Antonio  de  Mendoza  was 
viceroy  of  Mexico,  and  Cortez'  superior,  and  between 
him  and  the  traitorous  conqueror  was  endless  dis 
sension.  Cortez  was  working  for  himself,  Mendoza 
for  Spain. 

As  Mexico  became  more  and  more  thickly  dotted 
with  Spanish  settlements,  the  attention  of  the  restless 
world-finders  began  to  wander  toward  the  mysteries 
of  the  vast  and  unknown  country  to  the  north.  The 
strange  things  Vaca  had  seen,  and  the  stranger  ones  he 
had  heard,  could  not  fail  to  excite  the  dauntless  rovers 
to  whom  he  told  them.  Indeed,  within  a  year  after 
the  arrival  in  Mexico  of  the  first  transcontinental 
traveller,  two  more  of  our  present  States  were  found 
by  his  countrymen  as  the  direct  result  of  his  narra 
tives.  And  now  we  come  to  one  of  the  best-slan 
dered  men  of  them  all,  —  Fray  Marcos  de  Nizza,  the 
discoverer  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 

Fray  (brother)  Marcos  was  a  native  of  the  province 
of  Nizza,  then  a  part  of  Savoy,  and  must  have  come  to 


SPAIN  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES.  79 

America  in  1531.  He  accompanied  Pizarro  to 
Peru,  and  thence  finally  returned  to  Mexico.  He 
was  the  first  to  explore  the  unknown  lands  of  which 
Vaca  had  heard  such  wonderful  reports  from  the 
Indians,  though  he  had  never  seen  them  himself,  — 
"  the  Seven  Cities  of  Cibola,  full  of  gold,"  and 
countless  other  marvels.  Fray  Marcos  started  on 
foot  from  Culiacan  (in  Sinaloa,  on  the  western  edge 
of  Mexico)  in  the  spring  of  1539,  with  the  negro 
Estevanico,  who  had  been  one  of  Vaca's  compan 
ions,  and  a  few  Indians.  A  lay  brother,  Onorato, 
who  started  with  him,  fell  sick  at  once  and  went  no 
farther.  Now,  here  was  a  genuine  Spanish  explo 
ration,  a  fair  sample  of  hundreds,  —  this  fearless 
priest,  unarmed,  with  a  score  of  unreliable  men, 
starting  on  a  year's  walk  through  a  desert  where 
even  in  this  day  of  railroads  and  highways  and 
trails  and  developed  water  men  yearly  lose  their 
lives  by  thirst,  to  say  nothing  of  the  thousands 
who  have  been  killed  there  by  Indians.  But  trifles 
like  these  only  whetted  the  appetite  of  the  Spaniard  ; 
and  Fray  Marcos  kept  his  footsore  way,  until  early  in 
June,  1539,  he  actually  came  to  the  Seven  Cities  of 
Cibola.  These  were  in  the  extreme  west  of  New 
Mexico,  around  the  present  strange  Indian  pueblo 
of  Zufii,  which  is  all  that  is  left  of  those  famous 
cities,  and  is  itself  to-day  very  much  as  the  hero- 
priest  saw  it  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  At 
the  foot  of  the  wonderful  cliff  of  Toyallahnah,  the 
sacred  thunder  mountain  of  Zufii,  the  negro  Est6- 
vanico  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  Fray  Marcos 


8o  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

escaped  a  similar  fate  only  by  a  hasty  retreat.  He 
learned  what  he  could  of  the  strange  terraced  towns 
of  which  he  got  a  glimpse,  and  returned  to  Mexico 
with  great  news.  He  has  been  accused  of  misrepre 
sentation  and  exaggeration  in  his  reports ;  but  if  his 
critics  had  not  been  so  ignorant  of  the  locality,  of 
the  Indians  and  of  their  traditions,  they  never  would 
have  spoken.  Fray  Marcos's  statements  were  abso 
lutely  truthful. 

When  the  good  priest  told  his  story,  we  may  be 
sure  that  there  was  a  pricking-up  of  ears  through 
out  New  Spain  (the  general  Spanish  name  then  for 
Mexico)  ;  and  as  soon  as  ever  an  armed  expedition 
could  be  fitted  out,  it  started  for  the  Seven  Cities 
of  Cibola,  with  Fray  Marcos  himself  as  guide.  Of 
that  expedition  you  shall  hear  in  a  moment.  Fray 
Marcos  accompanied  it  as  far  as  Zufii,  and  then 
returned  to  Mexico,  being  sadly  crippled  by  rheu 
matism,  from  which  he  never  fully  recovered.  He 
died  in  the  convent  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  March 

25,  i558- 

The  man  whom  Fray  Marcos  led  to  the  Seven 
Cities  of  Cibola  was  the  greatest  explorer  that  ever 
trod  the  northern  continent,  though  his  explorations 
brought  to  himself  only  disaster  and  bitterness,  — 
Francisco  Vasquez  de  Coronado.  A  native  of  Sala 
manca,  Spain,  Coronado  was  young,  ambitious,  and 
already  renowned.  He  was  governor  of  the  Mex 
ican  province  of  New  Galicia  when  the  news  of  the 
Seven  Cities  came.  Mendoza,  against  the  strong 
opposition  of  Cortez,  decided  upon  a  move  which 


SPAIN  IN   THE    UNITED   STATES.  8 1 

would  rid  the  country  of  a  few  hundred  daring 
young  Spanish  blades  with  whom  peace  did  not  at 
all  agree,  and  at  the  same  time  conquer  new  coun 
tries  for  the  Crown.  So  he  gave  Coronado  com 
mand  of  an  expedition  of  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  Spaniards  to  colonize  the  lands  which  Fray 
Marcos  had  discovered,  with  strict  orders  never  to 
come  back  ! 

Coronado  and  his  little  army  left  Culiacan  early  in 
1540.  Guided  by  the  tireless  priest  they  reached 
Zuni  in  July,  and  took  the  pueblo  after  a  sharp  fight, 
which  was  the  end  of  hostilities  there.  Thence 
Coronado  sent  small  expeditions  to  the  strange 
cliff-built  pueblos  of  Moqui  (in  the  northeastern  part 
of  Arizona),  to  the  grand  canon  of  the  Colorado, 
and  to  the  pueblo  of  Jemez  in  northern  New  Mex 
ico.  That  winter  he  moved  his  whole  command 
to  Tiguex,  where  is  now  the  pretty  New  Mexican 
village  of  Bernalillo,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and  there 
had  a  serious  and  discreditable  war  with  the  Tigua 
Pueblos. 

It  was  here  that  he  heard  that  golden  myth  which 
lured  him  to  frightful  hardships,  and  hundreds  since 
to  death,  —  the  fable  of  the  Quivira.  This,  so 
Indians  from  the  vast  plains  assured  him,  was  an 
Indian  city  where  all  was  pure  gold.  In  the  spring 
of  1541  Coronado  and  his  men  started  in  quest  of 
the  Quivira,  and  marched  as  far  across  those  awful 
plains  as  the  centre  of  our  present  Indian  territory. 
Here,  seeing  that  he  had  been  deceived,  Coronado 
sent  back  his  army  to  Tiguex,  and  himself  with 
6 


82  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

thirty  men  pushed  on  across  the  Arkansas  River, 
and  as  far  as  northeastern  Kansas,  —  that  is,  three- 
fourths  of  the  way  from  the  Gulf  of  California  to 
New  York,  and  by  his  circuitous  route  much 
farther. 

There  he  found  the  tribe  of  the  Quiviras, — 
roaming  savages  who  chased  the  buffalo,  —  but  they 
neither  had  gold  nor  knew  where  it  was.  Coronado 
got  back  at  last  to  Bernalillo,  after  an  absence  of 
three  months  of  incessant  marching  and  awful  hard 
ships.  Soon  after  his  return,  he  was  so  seriously 
injured  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  that  his  life  was  in 
great  danger.  He  passed  the  crisis,  but  his  health 
was  wrecked ;  and  disheartened  by  his  broken  body 
and  by  the  unredeemed  disappointments  of  the 
forbidding  land  he  had  hoped  to  settle,  he  gave  up 
all  hope  of  colonizing  New  Mexico,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1542  returned  to  Mexico  with  his  men. 
His  disobedience  to  the  viceroy  in  coming  back 
cast  him  into  disgrace,  and  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life  in  comparative  obscurity. 

This  was  a  sad  end  for  the  remarkable  man  who 
had  found  out  so  many  thousands  of  miles  of  the 
thirsty  Southwest  nearly  three  centuries  before  any 
of  our  blood  saw  any  of  it,  —  a  well-born,  college- 
bred,  ambitious,  and  dashing  soldier,  and  the  idol  of 
his  troops.  As  an  explorer  he  stands  unequalled, 
but  as  a  colonizer  he  utterly  failed.  He  was  a  city- 
bred  man,  and  no  frontiersman ;  and  being  accus 
tomed  only  to  Jalisco  and  the  parts  of  Mexico  which 
lie  along  the  Gulf  of  California,  he  knew  nothing  of, 


SPAIN  IN   THE    UNITED  STATES.  83 

and  could  not  adapt  himself  to,  the  fearful  deserts 
of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico.  It  was  not  until  half 
a  century  later,  when  there  came  a  Spaniard  who 
was  a  born  frontiersman  of  the  arid  lands,  that  New 
Mexico  was  successfully  colonized. 

While  the  discoverer  of  the  Indian  Territory  and 
Kansas  was  chasing  a  golden  fable  across  their  des 
olate  plains,  his  countrymen  had  found  and  were 
exploring  another  of  our  States,  —  our  golden  garden 
of  California.  Hernando  de  Alarcon,  in  1540,  sailed 
up  the  Colorado  River  to  a  great  distance  from  the 
gulf,  probably  as  far  as  Great  Bend;  and  in  1543 
Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo  explored  the  Pacific  coast 
of  California  to  a  hundred  miles  north  of  where 
San  Francisco  was  to  be  founded  more  than  three 
centuries  later. 

After  the  discouraging  discoveries  of  Coronado, 
the  Spaniards  for  many  years  paid  little  attention  to 
New  Mexico.  There  was  enough  doing  in  Mexico 
itself  to  keep  even  that  indomitable  Spanish  energy 
busy  for  awhile  in  the  civilizing  of  their  new  empire. 
Fray  Pedro  de  Gante  had  founded  in  Mexico,  in 
1524,  the  first  schools  in  the  New  World  ;  and  there 
after  every  church  and  convent  in  Spanish  America 
had  always  a  school  for  the  Indians  attached.  In 
1524  there  was  not  a  single  Indian  in  Mexico's 
countless  thousands  who  knew  what  letters  were; 
but  twenty  years  later  such  large  numbers  of  them 
had  learned  to  read  and  write  that  Bishop  Zumarraga 
had  a  book  made  for  them  in  their  own  language. 
By  1543  there  were  even  industrial  schools  for  the 


84  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Indians  in  Mexico.  It  was  this  same  good  Bishop 
Zumarraga  who  brought  the  first  printing  press  to 
the  New  World,  in  1536.  It  was  set  up  in  the 
City  of  Mexico,  and  was  soon  very  actively  at  work. 
The  oldest  book  printed  in  America  that  remains 
to  us  came  from  that  press  in  1539.  A  majority 
of  the  first  books  printed  there  were  to  make  the 
Indian  languages  intelligible,  —  a  policy  of  humane 
scholarship  which  no  other  nation  colonizing  in  the 
New  World  ever  copied.  The  first  music  printed  in 
America  came  from  this  press  in  1584. 

The  most  striking  thing  of  all,  as  showing  the 
scholarly  attitude  of  the  Spaniards  toward  the  new 
continents,  was  a  result  entirely  unique.  Not  only 
did  their  intellectual  activity  breed  among  them 
selves  a  galaxy  of  eminent  writers,  but  in  a  very 
few  years  there  was  a  school  of  important  Indian 
authors.  It  would  be  an  irreparable  loss  to  knowl 
edge  of  the  true  history  of  America  if  we  were  to 
lose  the  chronicles  of  such  Indian  writers  as  Tezo- 
zomoc,  Camargo,  and  Pomar,  in  Mexico ;  Juan  de 
Santa  Cruz,  Pachacuti  Yamqui  Salcamayhua,  in  Peru  ; 
and  many  others.  And  what  a  gain  to  science  if 
we  had  taken  pains  to  raise  up  our  own  aborigines 
to  such  helpfulness  to  themselves  and  to  human 
knowledge  ! 

In  all  other  enlightened  pursuits  which  the  world 
then  knew,  Spain's  sons  were  making  remarkable 
progress  here.  In  geography,  natural  history,  natu 
ral  philosophy,  and  other  sciences  they  were  as 
truly  the  pioneers  of  America  as  they  had  been  in 


SPAIN  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES.  85 

discovery.  It  is  a  startling  fact  that  so  early  as 
1579  a  public  autopsy  on  the  body  of  an  Indian  was 
held  at  the  University  of  Mexico,  to  determine  the 
nature  of  an  epidemic  which  was  then  devastating 
New  Spain.  It  is  doubtful  if  by  that  time  they  had 
got  so  far  in  London  itself.  And  in  still  extant  books 
of  the  same  period  we  find  plans  for  repeating  fire 
arms,  and  a  plain  hint  of  the  telephone  !  The 
first  printing-press  did  not  reach  the  English  col 
onies  of  America  until  1638, —  nearly  one  hundred 
years  behind  Mexico.  The  whole  world  came  very 
slowly  to  newspapers ;  and  the  first  authentic  news 
paper  in  its  history  was  published  in  Germany  in 
1615.  The  first  one  in  England  began  in  1622; 
and  the  American  colonies  never  had  one  until  1 704. 
The  "  Mercuric  Volante  "  (Flying  Mercury),  a  pam 
phlet  which  printed  news,  was  running  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  before  1693. 

When  the  ill  reports  of  Coronado  had  largely  been 
forgotten,  there  began  another  Spanish  movement 
into  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  In  the  mean  time 
there  had  been  very  important  doings  in  Florida. 
The  many  failures  in  that  unlucky  land  had  not 
deterred  the  Spaniards  from  further  attempts  to 
colonize  it.  At  last,  in  1560,  the  first  permanent 
foothold  was  effected  there  by  Aviles  de  Menendez, 
a  brutal  Spaniard,  who  nevertheless  had  the  honor 
of  founding  and  naming  the  oldest  city  in  the  United 
States,  —  St.  Augustine,  1 5  60.  Menendez  found 
there  a  little  colony  of  French-Huguenots,  who  had 
wandered  thither  the  year  before  under  Ribault; 


86  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

and  those  whom  he  captured  he  hanged,  with  a 
placard  saying  that  they  were  executed  "not  as 
Frenchmen,  but  as  heretics."  Two  years  later,  the 
French  expedition  of  Dominique  de  Gourges  cap 
tured  the  three  Spanish  forts  which  had  been  built 
there,  and  hanged  the  colonists  "not  as  Spaniards, 
but  as  assassins,"  —  which  was  a  very  neat  revenge 
in  rhetoric,  if  an  unpraiseworthy  one  in  deed.  In 
1586  Sir  Francis  Drake,  whose  piratical  proclivities 
have  already  been  alluded  to,  destroyed  the  friendly 
colony  of  St.  Augustine ;  but  it  was  at  once  rebuilt. 
In  1763  Florida  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain  by 
Spain,  in  exchange  for  Havana,  which  Albemarle 
had  captured  the  year  before. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  the  Spaniards 
had  been  to  Virginia  nearly  thirty  years  before  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  attempt  to  establish  a  colony  there, 
and  full  half  a  century  before  Capt.  John  Smith's 
visit.  As  early  as  1556  Chesapeake  Bay  was  known 
to  the  Spaniards  as  the  Bay  of  Santa  Maria ;  and 
an  unsuccessful  expedition  had  been  sent  to  colo 
nize  the  country. 

In  1581  three  Spanish  missionaries  —  Fray  Agostin 
Rodriguez,  Fray  Francisco  Lopez,  and  Fray  Juan  de 
Santa  Maria  —  started  from  Santa  Barbara,  Chihua 
hua  (Mexico),  with  an  escort  of  nine  Spanish  soldiers 
under  command  of  Francisco  Sanchez  Chamuscado. 
They  trudged  up  along  the  Rio  Grande  to  where  Ber- 
nalillo  now  is,  —  a  walk  of  a  thousand  miles.  There 
the  missionaries  remained  to  teach  the  gospel,  while 
the  soldiers  explored  the  country  as  far  as  Zufii,  and 


SPAIN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  87 

then  returned  to  Santa  Barbara.  Chamuscado  died 
on  the  way.  As  for  the  brave  missionaries  who  had 
been  left  behind  in  the  wilderness,  they  soon  became 
martyrs.  Fray  Santa  Maria  was  slain  by  the  Indians 
near  San  Pedro,  while  trudging  back  to  Mexico  alone 
that  fall.  Fray  Rodriguez  and  Fray  Lopez  were 
assassinated  by  their  treacherous  flock  at  Puaray,  in 
December,  1581. 

In  the  following  year  Antonio  de  Espejo,  a  wealthy 
native  of  Cordova,  started  from  Santa  Barbara  in 
Chihuahua,  with  fourteen  men  to  face  the  deserts 
and  the  savages  of  New  Mexico.  He  marched 
up  the  Rio  Grande  to  some  distance  above  where 
Albuquerque  now  stands,  meeting  no  opposition 
from  the  Pueblo  Indians.  He  visited  their  cities  of 
Zia,  Jemez,  lofty  Acoma,  Zufii,  and  far-off  Moqui, 
and  travelled  a  long  way  out  into  northern  Arizona. 
Returning  to  the  Rio  Grande,  he  visited  the  pueblo 
of  Pecos,  went  down  the  Pecos  River  into  Texas,  and 
thence  crossed  back  to  Santa  Barbara.  He  intended 
to  return  and  colonize  New  Mexico,  but  his  death 
(probably  in  1585)  ended  these  plans;  and  the  only 
important  result  of  his  gigantic  journey  was  an  addi 
tion  to  the  geographical  and  ethnological  knowledge 
of  the  day. 

In  1590  Caspar  Castano  de  Sosa,  lieutenant- 
governor  of  New  Leon,  was  so  anxious  to  explore 
New  Mexico  that  he  made  an  expedition  without 
leave  from  the  viceroy.  He  came  up  the  Pecos 
River  and  crossed  to  the  Rio  Grande ;  and  at  the 
pueblo  of  Santo  Domingo  was  arrested  by  Captain 


88  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Morlette,  who  had  come  all  the  way  from  Mexico 
on  that  sole  errand,  and  carried  home  in  irons. 

Juan  de  Onate,  the  colonizer  of  New  Mexico, 
and  founder  of  the  second  town  within  the  limits 
of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  of  the  city 
which  is  now  our  next  oldest,  was  born  in  Zaca- 
tecas,  Mexico.  His  family  (which  came  from  Bis 
cay)  had  discovered  (in  1548)  and  now  owned 
some  of  the  richest  mines  in  the  world,  —  those 
of  Zacatecas.  But  despite  the  "golden  spoon  in 
his  mouth,"  Onate  desired  to  be  an  explorer. 
The  Crown  refused  to  provide  for  further  expe 
ditions  into  the  disappointing  north;  and  about 
1595  Onate  made  a  contract  with  the  viceroy  of 
New  Spain  to  colonize  New  Mexico  at  his  own 
expense.  He  made  all  preparations,  and  fitted  out 
his  costly  expedition.  Just  then  a  new  viceroy  was 
appointed,  who  kept  him  waiting  in  Mexico  with 
all  his  men  for  over  two  years,  ere  the  necessary 
permission  was  given  him  to  start.  At  last,  early 
in  1597,  he  set  out  with  his  expedition,  —  which 
had  cost  him  the  equivalent  of  a  million  dollars, 
before  it  stirred  a  step.  He  took  with  him  four  hun 
dred  colonists,  including  two  hundred  soldiers,  with 
women  and  children,  and  herds  of  sheep  and  cattle. 
Taking  formal  possession  of  New  Mexico  May  30, 
1598,  he  moved  up  the  Rio  Grande  to  where  the 
hamlet  of  Chamita  now  is  (north  of  Santa  Fe"),  and 
there  founded,  in  September  of  that  year,  San 
Gabriel  de  los  Espanoles  (St.  Gabriel  of  the  Span 
iards)  ,  the  second  town  in  the  United  States. 


SPAIN  IN   THE   UNITED  STATES.  89 

Onate  was  remarkable  not  only  for  his  success 
in  colonizing  a  country  so  forbidding  as  this  then 
was,  but  also  as  an  explorer.  He  ransacked  all  the 
country  round  about,  travelled  to  Acoma  and  put 
down  a  revolt  of  its  Indians,  and  in  1600  made 
an  expedition  clear  up  into  Nebraska.  In  1604, 
with  thirty  men,  he  marched  from  San  Gabriel  across 
that  grim  desert  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  re 
turned  to  San  Gabriel  in  April,  1605.  By  that  time 
the  English  had  penetrated  no  farther  into  the  inte 
rior  of  America  than  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  the 
Atlantic  coast. 

In  1605  Onate  founded  Santa  Fe",  the  City  of 
the  Holy  Faith  of  St.  Francis,  about  whose  age  a 
great  many  foolish  fables  have  been  written.  The 
city  actually  celebrated  the  three  hundred  and 
thirty-third  anniversary  of  its  founding  twenty  years 
before  it  was  three  centuries  old. 

In  1606  Onate  made  another  expedition  to  the  far 
Northeast,  about  which  expedition  we  know  almost 
nothing;  and  in  1608  he  was  superseded  by  Pedro 
de  Peralta,  the  second  governor  of  New  Mexico. 

Onate  was  of  middle  age  when  he  made  this  very 
striking  record.  Born  on  the  frontier,  used  to  the 
deserts,  endowed  with  great  tenacity,  coolness,  and 
knowledge  of  frontier  warfare,  he  was  the  very  man 
to  succeed  in  planting  the  first  considerable  colonies 
in  the  United  States  at  their  most  dangerous  and 
difficult  points. 


go  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


VIII. 

TWO  CONTINENTS  MASTERED. 

THIS,  then,  was  the  situation  in  the  New  World 
at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Spain,  having  found  the  Americas,  had,  in  a  little 
over  a  hundred  years  of  ceaseless  exploration  and 
conquest,  settled  and  was  civilizing  them.  She 
had  in  the  New  World  hundreds  of  towns,  whose 
extremes  were  over  five  thousand  miles  apart,  with 
all  the  then  advantages  of  civilization,  and  two 
towns  in  what  is  now  the  United  States,  a  score  of 
whose  States  her  sons  had  penetrated.  France  had 
made  a  few  gingerly  expeditions,  which  bore  no 
substantial  fruit  j  and  Portugal  had  founded  a  few 
comparatively  unimportant  towns  in  South  Amer 
ica.  England  had  passed  the  century  in  masterly 
inactivity,  —  and  there  was  not  so  much  as  an 
English  hut  or  an  English  man  between  Cape  Horn 
and  the  North  Pole. 

That  later  times  have  reversed  the  situation  ; 
that  Spain  (largely  because  she  was  drained  of  her 
best  blood  by  a  conquest  so  enormous  that  no 
nation  even  now  could  give  the  men  or  the  money 
to  keep  the  enterprise  abreast  with  the  world's  pro 
gress)  has  never  regained  her  old  strength,  and  is  now 


TWO  CONTINENTS  MASTERED.  91 

a  drone  beside  the  young  giant  of  nations  that  has 
grown,  since  her  day,  in  the  empire  she  opened,  — 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  obligation  of  American 
history  to  give  her  justice  for  the  past.  Had  there 
been  no  Spain  four  hundred  years  ago,  there  would 
be  no  United  States  to-day.  It  is  a  most  fascinating 
story  to  every  genuine  American,  —  for  every  one 
worthy  of  the  name  admires  heroism  and  loves  fair- 
play  everywhere,  and  is  first  of  all  interested  in  the 
truth  about  his  own  country. 

By  1680  the  Rio  Grande  valley  in  New  Mexico 
was  beaded  with  Spanish  settlements  from  Santa 
Cruz  to  below  Socorro,  two  hundred  miles ;  and 
there  were  also  colonies  in  the  Taos  valley,  the  ex 
treme  north  of  the  Territory.  From  1600  to  1680 
there  had  been  countless  expeditions  throughout 
the  Southwest,  penetrating  even  the  deadly  Llano 
Estacado  (Staked  Plain).  The  heroism  which  held 
the  Southwest  so  long  was  no  less  wonderful  than 
the  exploration  that  found  it.  The  life  of  the 
colonists  was  a  daily  battle  with  niggard  Nature  — 
for  New  Mexico  was  never  fertile  —  and  with  dead 
liest  danger.  For  three  centuries  they  were  cease 
lessly  harried  by  the  fiendish  Apaches;  and  up  to 
1680  there  was  no  rest  from  the  attempts  of  the 
Pueblos  (who  were  actually  with  and  all  about  the 
settlers)  at  insurrection.  The  statements  of  closet 
historians  that  the  Spaniards  enslaved  the  Pueblos, 
or  any  other  Indians  of  New  Mexico ;  that  they 
forced  them  to  choose  between  Christianity  and 
death ;  that  they  made  them  work  in  the  mines,  and 


92  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  like,  —  are  all  entirely  untrue.  The  whole  policy 
of  Spain  toward  the  Indians  of  the  New  World  was 
one  of  humanity,  justice,  education,  and  moral 
suasion ;  and  though  there  were  of  course  individual 
Spaniards  who  broke  the  strict  laws  of  their  country 
as  to  the  treatment  of  the  Indians,  they  were  duly 
punished  therefor. 

Yet  the  mere  presence  of  the  strangers  in  their 
country  was  enough  to  stir  the  jealous  nature  of  the 
Indians;  and  in  1680  a  murderous  and  causeless 
plot  broke  out  in  the  red  Pueblo  Rebellion.  There 
were  then  fifteen  hundred  Spaniards  in  the  Terri 
tory,  —  all  living  in  Santa  Fe"  or  in  scattered  farm 
settlements ;  for  Chamita  had  long  been  abandoned. 

Thirty-four  Pueblo  towns  were  in  the  revolt,  under 
the  lead  of  a  dangerous  Tehua  Indian  named  Pope\ 
Secret  runners  had  gone  from  pueblo  to  pueblo,  and 
the  murderous  blow  fell  upon  the  whole  Territory 
simultaneously.  On  that  bitter  loth  of  August, 
1680,  over  four  hundred  Spaniards  were  assassi 
nated, —  including  twenty-one  of  the  gentle  mis 
sionaries  who,  unarmed  and  alone,  had  scattered 
over  the  wilderness  that  they  might  save  the  souls 
and  teach  the  minds  of  the  savages. 

Antonio  de  Otermin  was  then  governor  and  cap 
tain-general  of  New  Mexico,  and  was  attacked  in 
his  capital  of  Santa  Fe"  by  a  greatly- outnumbering 
army  of  Indians.  The  one  hundred  and  twenty 
Spanish  soldiers,  cooped  up  in  their  little  adobe 
city,  soon  found  themselves  unable  to  hold  it  longer 
against  their  swarming  besiegers ;  and  after  a  week's 


TWO   CONTINENTS  MASTERED.  93 

desperate  defence,  they  made  a  sortie,  and  hewed 
their  way  through  to  liberty,  taking  their  women  and 
children  with  them.  They  retreated  down  the  Rio 
Grande,  avoiding  an  ambush  set  for  them  at  Sandia 
by  the  Indians,  and  reached  the  pueblo  of  Isleta, 
twelve  miles  below  the  present  city  of  Albuquerque, 
in  safety ;  but  the  village  was  deserted,  and  the  Span 
iards  were  obliged  to  continue  their  flight  to  El 
Paso,  Texas,  which  was  then  only  a  Spanish  mission 
for  the  Indians. 

In  1 68 1  Governor  Otermin  made  an  invasion  as 
far  north  as  the  pueblo  of  Cochiti,  twenty-five  miles 
west  of  Santa  Pe",  on  the  Rio  Grande ;  but  the  hos 
tile  Pueblos  forced  him  to  retreat  again  to  El  Paso. 
In  1687  Pedro  Reneros  Posada  made  another  dash 
into  New  Mexico,  and  took  the  rock-built  pueblo  of 
Santa  Ana  by  a  most  brilliant  and  bloody  assault. 
But  he  also  had  to  retire.  In  1688  Domingo 
Jironza  Petriz  de  Cruzate  —  the  greatest  soldier 
on  New  Mexican  soil  —  made  an  expedition,  in 
which  he  took  the  pueblo  of  Zia  by  storm  (a  still 
more  remarkable  achievement  than  Posada's),  and 
in  turn  retreated  to  El  Paso. 

At  last  the  final  conqueror  of  New  Mexico, 
Diego  de  Vargas,  came  in  1692.  Marching  to 
Santa  Fe",  and  thence  as  far  as  ultimate  Moqui, 
with  only  eighty-nine  men,  he  visited  every  pueblo 
in  the  Province,  meeting  no  opposition  from  the 
Indians,  who  had  been  thoroughly  cowed  by 
Cruzate.  Returning  to  El  Paso,  he  came  again 
to  New  Mexico  in  1693,  this  time  with  about  one 


94  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

hundred  and  fifty  soldiers  and  a  number  of  col 
onists.  Now  the  Indians  were  prepared  for  him, 
and  gave  him  the  bloodiest  reception  ever  accorded 
in  New  Mexico.  They  broke  out  first  at  Santa  Fe", 
and  he  had  to  storm  that  town,  which  he  took  after 
two  days'  fighting.  Then  began  the  siege  of  the 
Black  Mesa  of  San  Ildefonso,  which  lasted  off  and 
on  for  nine  months.  The  Indians  had  removed 
their  village  to  the  top  of  that  New  Mexican  Gib 
raltar,  and  there  resisted  four  daring  assaults,  but 
were  finally  worn  into  surrender. 

Meantime  De  Vargas  had  stormed  the  impreg 
nable  citadel  of  the  Potrero  Viejo,  and  the  beetling 
cliff  of  San  Diego  de  Jemez,  —  two  exploits  which 
rank  with  the  storming  of  the  Pefiol  of  Mixton l  in 
Jalisco  (Mexico)  and  of  the  vast  rock  of  Acoma,  as 
the  most  marvellous  assaults  in  all  American  his 
tory.  The  capture  of  Quebec  bears  no  compari 
son  to  them. 

These  costly  lessons  kept  the  Indians  quiet  until 
1696,  when  they  broke  out  again.  This  rebellion 
was  not  so  formidable  as  the  first,  but  it  gave  New 
Mexico  another  watering  with  blood,  and  was  sup 
pressed  only  after  three  months'  fighting.  The 
Spaniards  were  already  masters  of  the  situation; 
and  the  quelling  of  that  revolt  put  an  end  to  all 
trouble  with  the  Pueblos,  —  who  remain  with  us 
to  this  day  practically  undiminished  in  numbers, 
though  they  have  fewer  towns,  a  quiet,  peaceful, 
Christianized  race  of  industrious  farmers,  living 
1  Pronounced  Mish-ton. 


TWO  CONTINENTS  MASTERED.  95 

monuments  to  the  humanity  and  the  moral  teaching 
of  their  conquerors. 

Then  came  the  last  century,  a  dismal  hundred 
years  of  ceaseless  harassment  by  the  Apaches, 
Navajos,  and  Comanches,  and  occasionally  by  the 
Utes,  —  a  harassment  which  had  hardly  ceased  a 
decade  ago.  The  Indian  wars  were  so  constant, 
the  explorations  (like  that  wonderful  attempt  to 
open  a  road  from  San  Antonio  de  Bejar,  Texas,  to 
Monterey,  California)  so  innumerable,  that  their 
individual  heroism  is  lost  in  their  own  bewildering 
multitude. 

More  than  two  centuries  ago  the  Spaniards  ex 
plored  Texas,  and  settlement  soon  followed.  There 
were  several  minor  expeditions  j  but  the  first  of 
magnitude  was  that  of  Alonzo  de  Leon,  governor 
of  the  Mexican  State  of  Coahuila,  who  made  exten 
sive  explorations  of  Texas  in  1689.  By  the  begin 
ning  of  the  last  century  there  were  several  Spanish 
settlements  and  presidios  (garrisons)  in  what  was  to 
become,  more  than  a  hundred  years  later,  the  largest 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Spanish  colonization  of  Colorado  was  not 
extensive,  and  they  had  no  towns  north  of  the  Arkan 
sas  River ;  but  even  in  settling  our  Centennial  State 
they  were  half  a  century  ahead  of  us,  as  they  were 
some  centuries  ahead  in  finding  it. 

In  California  the  Spaniards  were  very  active.  For 
a  long  time  there  were  minor  expeditions  which  were 
unsuccessful.  Then  the  Franciscans  came  in  1769 
to  San  Diego  Bay,  landed  on  the  bare  sands  where  a 


96  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

million- dollar  American  hotel  stands  to-day,  and  at 
once  began  to  teach  the  Indians,  to  plant  olive- 
orchards  and  vineyards,  and  to  rear  the  noble  stone 
churches  so  beautifully  described  by  the  author  of 
"  Ramona,"  which  shall  remain  as  monuments  of  a 
sublime  faith  long  after  the  race  that  built  them  has 
gone  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

California  had  a  long  line  of  Spanish  governors  — 
the  last  of  whom,  brave,  courtly,  lovable  old  Pio  Pico, 
has  just  died  —  before  our  acquisition  of  that  garden- 
State  of  States.  The  Spaniards  discovered  gold  there 
centuries,  and  were  mining  it  a  decade,  before  an 
"American"  dreamed  of  the  precious  deposit  which 
was  to  make  such  a  mark  on  civilization,  and  had 
found  the  rich  placer-fields  of  New  Mexico  a  decade 
earlier  yet. 

In  Arizona,  Father  Franciscus  Eusebius  Kuehne,1 
a  Jesuit  of  Austrian  birth  but  under  Spanish  auspices, 
was  first  to  establish  the  missions  on  the  Gila  River, 
—  from  1689  to  1717  (the  date  of  his  death).  He 
made  at  least  four  appalling  journeys  on  foot  from 
Sonora  to  the  Gila,  and  descended  that  stream  to  its 
junction  with  the  Colorado.  It  would  be  extremely 
interesting,  did  space  permit,  to  follow  fully  the  wan 
derings  and  achievements  of  that  class  of  pioneers 
of  America  who  have  left  such  a  wonderful  impress 
on  the  whole  Southwest,  —  the  Spanish  missiona 
ries.  Their  zeal  and  their  heroism  were  infinite. 
No  desert  was  too  frightful  for  them,  no  danger 
too  appalling.  Alone,  unarmed,  they  traversed  the 
1  Often  misspelled  Kino. 


TWO  CONTINENTS  MASTERED.  97 

most  forbidding  lands  and  braved  the  most  deadly 
savages,  and  left  in  the  lives  of  the  Indians  such  a 
proud  monument  as  mailed  explorers  and  conquer 
ing  armies  never  made. 

The  foregoing  is  a  running  summary  of  the  early 
pioneering  of  America,  —  the  only  pioneering  for 
more  than  a  century,  and  the  greatest  pioneering 
for  still  another  century.  As  for  the  great  and  won 
derful  work  at  last  done  by  our  own  blood,  not  only 
in  conquering  part  of  a  continent,  but  in  making  a 
mighty  nation,  the  reader  needs  no  help  from  me  to 
enable  him  to  comprehend  it,  —  it  has  already  found 
its  due  place  in  history.  To  record  all  the  heroisms 
of  the  Spanish  pioneers  would  fill,  not  this  book,  but 
a  library.  I  have  deemed  it  best,  in  such  an  enor 
mous  field,  to  draw  the  condensed  outline,  as  has 
now  been  done ;  and  then  to  illustrate  it  by  giving 
in  detail  a  few  specimens  out  of  the  host  of  hero 
isms.  I  have  already  given  a  hint  of  how  many  con 
quests  and  explorations  and  dangers  there  were; 
and  now  I  wish  to  show  by  fair  "sample  pages" 
what  Spanish  conquest  and  exploration  and  endur 
ance  really  were. 


II. 

SPECIMEN    PIONEERS, 


I. 

THE   FIRST   AMERICAN   TRAVELLER. 

THE  achievements  of  the  explorer  are  among 
the  most  important,  as  they  are  among  the 
most  fascinating,  of  human  heroisms.  The  qualities 
of  mind  and  body  necessary  to  his  task  are  rare  and 
admirable.  He  should  have  many  sides  and  be 
strong  in  each,  —  the  rounded  man  that  Nature 
meant  man  to  be.  His  body  need  not  be  as  strong  as 
Samson's,  nor  his  mind  as  Napoleon's,  nor  his  heart 
the  most  fully  developed  heart  on  earth ;  but  mind, 
heart,  and  body  he  needs,  and  each  in  the  measure 
of  a  strong  man.  There  is  hardly  another  calling  in 
which  every  muscle,  so  to  speak,  of  his  threefold 
nature  will  be  more  constantly  or  more  evenly  called 
into  play. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  some  of  the  very  greatest 
of  human  achievements  have  come  about  by  chance. 
Many  among  the  most  important  discoveries  in  the 
history  of  mankind  have  been  made  by  men  who  were 
not  seeking  the  great  truth  they  found.  Science  is  the 
result  not  only  of  study,  but  of  precious  accidents ; 
and  this  is  as  true  of  history.  It  is  an  interesting 
study  in  itself,  —  the  influence  which  happy  blun- 


102  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

ders  and  unintended  happenings  have  had  upon 
civilization. 

In  exploration,  as  in  invention,  accident  has  played 
its  important  part.  Some  of  the  most  valuable  ex 
plorations  have  been  made  by  men  who  had  no  more 
idea  of  being  explorers  than  they  had  of  inventing 
a  railroad  to  the  moon ;  and  it  is  a  striking  fact  that 
the  first  inland  exploration  of  America,  and  the  two 
most  wonderful  journeys  in  it,  were  not  only  acci 
dents,  but  the  crowning  misfortunes  and  disappoint 
ments  of  the  men  who  had  hoped  for  very  different 
things. 

Exploration,  intended  or  involuntary,  has  not  only 
achieved  great  results  for  civilization,  but  in  the  doing 
has  scored  some  of  the  highest  feats  of  human  hero 
ism.  America  in  particular,  perhaps,  has  been  the 
field  of  great  and  remarkable  journeys ;  but  the  two 
men  who  made  the  most  astounding  journeys  in 
America  are  still  almost  unheard  of  among  us. 
They  are  heroes  whose  names  are  as  Greek  to  the 
vast  majority  of  Americans,  albeit  they  are  men  in 
whom  Americans  particularly  should  take  deep  and 
admiring  interest.  They  were  Alvar  Nunez  Cabeza 
de  Vaca,  the  first  American  traveller ;  and  Andre's 
Docampo,  the  man  who  walked  farther  on  this  con 
tinent  than  any  other. 

In  a  world  so  big  and  old  and  full  of  great  deeds 
as  this,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  say  of  any  one 
man,  "  He  was  the  greatest  "  this  or  that ;  and  even 
in  the  matter  of  journeys  there  have  been  bewilder- 
ingly  many  great  ones,  of  the  most  wonderful  of  which 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN   TRAVELLER.        103 

we  have  heard  least.  As  explorers  we  cannot  give 
Vaca  and  Docampo  great  rank  ;  though  the  latter's 
explorations  were  not  contemptible,  and  Vaca's  were 
of  great  importance.  But  as  physical  achievements 
the  journeys  of  these  neglected  heroes  can  safely  be 
said  to  be  without  parallel.  They  were  the  most 
wonderful  walks  ever  made  by  man.  Both  men  made 
their  records  in  America,  and  each  made  most  of  his 
journey  in  what  is  now  the  United  States. 

Cabeza  de  Vaca  was  the  first  European  really  to 
penetrate  the  then  "  Dark  Continent "  of  North 
America,  as  he  was  by  centuries  the  first  to  cross 
the  continent.  His  nine  years  of  wandering  on 
foot,  unarmed,  naked,  starving,  among  wild  beasts 
and  wilder  men,  with  no  other  attendants  than  three 
as  ill-fated  comrades,  gave  the  world  its  first  glimpse 
of  the  United  States  inland,  and  led  to  some  of  the 
most  stirring  and  important  achievements  connected 
with  its  early  history.  Nearly  a  century  before  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  planted  their  noble  commonwealth 
on  the  edge  of  Massachusetts,  seventy-five  years 
before  the  first  English  settlement  was  made  in  the 
New  World,  and  more  than  a  generation  before  there 
was  a  single  Caucasian  settler  of  any  blood  within  the 
area  of  the  present  United  States,  Vaca  and  his  gaunt 
followers  had  trudged  across  this  unknown  land. 

It  is  a  long  way  back  to  those  days.  Henry  VIII. 
was  then  king  of  England,  and  sixteen  rulers  have 
since  occupied  that  throne.  Elizabeth,  the  Virgin 
Queen,  was  not  born  when  Vaca  started  on  his  ap 
palling  journey,  and  did  not  begin  to  reign  until 


104 


THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


twenty  years  after  he  had  ended  it.  It  was  fifty 
years  before  the  birth  of  Captain  John  Smith,  the 
founder  of  Virginia ;  a  generation  before  the  birth 
of  Shakspere,  and  two  and  a  half  generations  before 
Milton.  Henry  Hudson,  the  famous  explorer  for 
whom  one  of  our  chief  rivers  is  named,  was  not  yet 
born.  Columbus  himself  had  been  dead  less  than 
twenty-five  years,  and  the  conqueror  of  Mexico  had 
seventeen  yet  to  live.  It  was  sixty  years  before  the 
world  had  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  a  newspaper, 
and  the  best  geographers  still  thought  it  possible  to 
sail  through  America  to  Asia.  There  was  not  a  white 
man  in  North  America  above  the  middle  of  Mexico  ; 
nor  had  one  gone  two  hundred  miles  inland  in  this 
continental  wilderness,  of  which  the  world  knew 
almost  less  than  we  know  now  of  the  moon. 

The  name  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca  may  seem  to  us  a 
curious  one.  It  means  "  Head  of  a  Cow."  But 
this  quaint  family  name  was  an  honorable  one  in 
Spain,  and  had  a  brave  winning :  it  was  earned  at 
the  battle  of  Naves  de  Tolosa  in  the  thirteenth  cen 
tury,  one  of  the  decisive  engagements  of  all  those 
centuries  of  war  with  the  Moors.  Alvar's  grand 
father  was  also  a  man  of  some  note,  being  the  con 
queror  of  the  Canary  Islands. 

Alvar  was  born  in  Xeres *  de  la  Frontera,  Spain, 
toward  the  last  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Of  his 
early  life  we  know  little,  except  that  he  had  already 
won  some  consideration  when  in  1527,  a  mature 
man,  he  came  to  the  New  World.  In  that  year  we 
1  Pronounced  Hay-ress. 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN    TRAVELLER,         105 

find  him  sailing  from  Spain  as  treasurer  and  sheriff 
of  the  expedition  of  six  hundred  men  with  which 
Panfilo  de  Narvaez  intended  to  conquer  and  colo 
nize  the  Flowery  Land,  discovered  a  decade  before 
by  Ponce  de  Leon. 

They  reached  Santo  Domingo,  and  thence  sailed 
to  Cuba.  On  Good  Friday,  1528,  ten  months  after 
leaving  Spain,  they  reached  Florida,  and  landed  at 
what  is  now  named  Tampa  Bay.  Taking  formal  pos 
session  of  the  country  for  Spain,  they  set  out  to 
explore  and  conquer  the  wilderness.  At  Santo  Do 
mingo  shipwreck  and  desertion  had  already  cost 
them  heavily,  and  of  the  original  six  hundred  men 
there  were  but  three  hundred  and  forty-five  left. 
No  sooner  had  they  reached  Florida  than  the  most 
fearful  misfortunes  began,  and  with  every  day  grew 
worse.  Food  there  was  almost  none ;  hostile  Indi 
ans  beset  them  on  every  hand ;  and  the  countless 
rivers,  lakes,  and  swamps  made  progress  difficult 
and  dangerous.  The  little  army  was  fast  thinning 
out  under  war  and  starvation,  and  plots  were  rife 
among  the  survivors.  They  were  so  enfeebled  that 
they  could  not  even  get  back  to  their  vessels.  Strug 
gling  through  at  last  to  the  nearest  point  on  the 
coast,  far  west  of  Tampa  Bay,  they  decided  that 
their  only  hope  was  to  build  boats  and  try  to  coast 
to  the  Spanish  settlements  in  Mexico.  Five  rude 
boats  were  made  with  great  toil;  and  the  poor 
wretches  turned  westward  along  the  coast  of  the 
Gulf.  Storms  scattered  the  boats,  and  wrecked  one 
after  the  other.  Scores  of  the  haggard  adventurers 


106  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

were  drowned,  Narvaez  among  them;  and  scores 
dashed  upon  an  inhospitable  shore  perished  by  ex 
posure  and  starvation.  The  living  were  forced  to 
subsist  upon  the  dead.  Of  the  five  boats,  three  had 
gone  down  with  all  on  board;  of  the  eighty  men 
who  escaped  the  wreck  but  fifteen  were  still  alive. 
All  their  arms  and  clothing  were  at  the  bottom  of 
the  Gulf. 

The  survivors  were  now  on  Mai  Hado,  "  the  Isle 
of  Misfortune."  We  know  no  more  of  its  location 
than  that  it  was  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 
Their  boats  had  crossed  that  mighty  current  where 
it  plunges  out  into  the  Gulf,  and  theirs  were  the  first 
European  eyes  to  see  even  this  much  of  the  Father 
of  Waters.  The  Indians  of  the  island,  who  had  no 
better  larder  than  roots,  berries,  and  fish,  treated 
their  unfortunate  guests  as  generously  as  was  in  their 
power ;  and  Vaca  has  written  gratefully  of  them. 

In  the  spring  his  thirteen  surviving  companions 
determined  to  escape.  Vaca  was  too  sick  to  walk, 
and  they  abandoned  him  to  his  fate.  Two  other 
sick  men,  Oviedo  and  Alaniz,  were  also  left  behind ; 
and  the  latter  soon  perished.  It  was  a  pitiable  plight 
in  which  Vaca  now  found  himself.  A  naked  skele 
ton,  scarce  able  to  move,  deserted  by  his  friends  and 
at  the  mercy  of  savages,  it  is  small  wonder  that,  as 
he  tells  us,  his  heart  sank  within  him.  But  he  was 
one  of  the  men  who  never  «'  let  go."  A  constant 
soul  held  up  the  poor,  worn  body;  and  as  the 
weather  grew  less  rigorous,  Vaca  slowly  recovered 
from  his  sickness. 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN   TRAVELLER.        107 

For  nearly  six  years  he  lived  an  incomparably 
lonely  life,  bandied  about  from  tribe  to  tribe  of 
Indians,  sometimes  as  a  slave,  and  sometimes  only 
a  despised  outcast.  Oviedo  fled  from  some  danger, 
and  he  was  never  heard  of  afterward ;  Vaca  faced 
it,  and  lived.  That  his  sufferings  were  almost  be 
yond  endurance  cannot  be  doubted.  Even  when 
he  was  not  the  victim  of  brutal  treatment,  he  was 
the  worthless  encumbrance,  the  useless  interloper, 
among  poor  savages  who  lived  the  most  miserable 
and  precarious  lives.  That  they  did  not  kill  him 
speaks  well  for  their  humane  kindness. 

The  thirteen  who  escaped  had  fared  even  worse. 
They  had  fallen  into  cruel  hands,  and  all  had  been 
slain  except  three,  who  were  reserved  for  the  harder 
fate  of  slaves.  These  three  were  Andre's  Dorantes, 
a  native  of  Bejar ;  Alonzo  del  Castillo  Maldonado, 
a  native  of  Salamanca ;  and  the  negro  EsteVanico, 
who  was  born  in  Azamor,  Africa.  These  three  and 
Vaca  were  all  that  were  now  left  of  the  gallant  four 
hundred  and  fifty  men  (among  whom  we  do  not 
count  the  deserters  at  Santo  Domingo)  who  had 
sailed  with  such  high  hopes  from  Spain,  in  1527,  to 
conquer  a  corner  of  the  New  World,  —  four  naked, 
tortured,  shivering  shadows ;  and  even  they  were 
separated,  though  they  occasionally  heard  vaguely 
of  one  another,  and  made  vain  attempts  to  come  to 
gether.  It  was  not  until  September,  1534  (nearly 
seven  years  later) ,  that  Dorantes,  Castillo,  Este"  van- 
ico,  and  Vaca  were  reunited ;  and  the  spot  where 
they  found  this  happiness  was  somewhere  in  eastern 
Texas,  west  of  the  Sabine  River. 


108  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

But  Vaca's  six  years  of  loneliness  and  suffering 
unspeakable  had  not  been  in  vain,  —  for  he  had 
acquired,  unknowingly,  the  key  to  safety ;  and  amid 
all  those  horrors,  and  without  dreaming  of  its  signi 
ficance,  he  had  stumbled  upon  the  very  strange  and 
interesting  clew  which  was  to  save  them  all.  With 
out  it,  all  four  would  have  perished  in  the  wilderness, 
and  the  world  would  never  have  known  their  end. 

While  they  were  still  on  the  Isle  of  Misfortune,  a 
proposition  had  been  made  which  seemed  the 
height  of  the  ridiculous.  "  In  that  isle,"  says  Vaca, 
"  they  wished  to  make  us  doctors,  without  examin 
ing  us  or  asking  our  titles ;  for  they  themselves  cure 
sickness  by  blowing  upon  the  sick  one.  With  that 
blowing,  and  with  their  hands,  they  remove  from 
him  the  disease  ;  and  they  bade  us  do  the  same,  so 
as  to  be  cf  some  use  to  them.  We  laughed  at  this, 
saying  that  they  were  making  fun,  and  that  we  knew 
not  how  to  heal ;  and  for  that  they  took  away  our 
food,  till  we  should  do  that  which  they  said.  And 
seeing  our  stubbornness,  an  Indian  said  to  me  that 
I  did  not  understand ;  for  that  it  did  no  good  for 
one  to  know  how,  because  the  very  stones  and  other 
things  of  the  field  have  power  to  heal,  .  .  .  and 
that  we,  who  were  men,  must  certainly  have  greater 
power." 

This  was  a  characteristic  thing  which  the  old 
Indian  said,  and  a  key  to  the  remarkable  super 
stitions  of  his  race.  But  the  Spaniards,  of  course, 
could  not  yet  understand. 

Presently  the  savages  removed  to  the  mainland. 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN   TRAVELLER.        109 

They  were  always  in  abject  poverty,  and  many  of 
them  perished  from  starvation  and  from  the  ex 
posures  incident  to  their  wretched  existence.  For 
three  months  in  the  year  they  had  "  nothing  but 
shell-fish  and  very  bad  water ;  "  and  at  other  times 
only  poor  berries  and  the  like ;  and  their  year  was 
a  series  of  wanderings  hither  and  thither  in  quest 
of  these  scant  and  unsatisfactory  foods. 

It  was  an  important  fact  that  Vaca  was  utterly 
useless  to  the  Indians.  He  could  not  serve  them  as 
a  warrior ;  for  in  his  wasted  condition  the  bow  was 
more  than  he  could  master.  As  a  hunter  he  was 
equally  unavailable  ;  for,  as  he  himself  says,  "  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  trail  animals."  Assistance  in 
carrying  water  or  fuel  or  anything  of  the  sort  was 
impossible ;  for  he  was  a  man,  and  his  Indian  mas 
ters  could  not  let  a  man  do  woman's  work.  So, 
among  these  starveling  nomads,  this  man  who  could 
not  help  but  must  be  fed  was  a  real  burden ;  and 
the  only  wonder  is  that  they  did  not  kill  him. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Vaca  began  to  wander 
about.  His  indifferent  captors  paid  little  attention 
to  his  movements,  and  by  degrees  he  got  to  making 
long  trips  north,  and  up  and  down  the  coast.  In  time 
he  began  to  see  a  chance  for  trading,  in  which  the 
Indians  encouraged  him,  glad  to  find  their  "white 
elephant"  of  some  use  at  last.  From  the  northern 
tribes  he  brought  down  skins  and  almagre  (the  red 
clay  so  indispensable  to  the  savages  for  face-paint), 
flakes  of  flint  to  make  arrow-heads,  hard  reeds  for 
the  shafts,  and  tassels  of  deer-hair  dyed  red.  These 


HO  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

things  he  readily  exchanged  among  the  coast  tribes 
for  shells  and  shell-beads,  and  the  like,  —  which,  in 
turn,  were  in  demand  among  his  northern  customers. 

On  account  of  their  constant  wars,  the  Indians 
could  net  venture  outside  their  own  range ;  so  this 
safe  go-between  trader  was  a  convenience  which 
they  encouraged.  So  far  as  he  was  concerned, 
though  the  life  was  still  one  of  great  suffering,  he 
was  constantly  gaining  knowledge  which  would  be 
useful  to  him  in  his  never-forgotten  plan  of  getting 
back  to  the  world.  These  lonely  trading  expedi 
tions  of  his  covered  thousands  of  miles  on  foot 
through  the  trackless  wildernesses ;  and  through 
them  his  aggregate  wanderings  were  much  greater 
than  those  of  either  of  his  fellow-prisoners. 

It  was  during  these  long  and  awful  tramps  that 
Cabeza  de  Vaca  had  one  particularly  interesting 
experience.  He  was  the  first  European  who  saw 
the  great  American  bison,  the  buffalo,  which  has 
become  practically  extinct  in  the  last  decade,  but 
once  roamed  the  plains  in  vast  hordes,  —  and  first 
by  many  years.  He  saw  them  and  ate  their  meat  in 
the  Red  River  country  of  Texas,  and  has  left  us  a 
description  of  the  "  hunchback  cows."  None  of  his 
companions  ever  saw  one,  for  in  their  subsequent 
journey  together  the  four  Spaniards  passed  south  of 
the  buffalo-country. 

Meanwhile,  as  I  have  noted,  the  forlorn  and  naked 
trader  had  had  the  duties  of  a  doctor  forced  upon 
him.  He  did  not  understand  what  this  involuntary 
profession  might  do  for  him,  —  he  was  simply  pushed 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN   TRAVELLER.         in 

into  it  at  first,  and  followed  it  not  from  choice,  but 
to  keep  from  having  trouble.  He  was  "  good  for 
nothing  but  to  be  a  medicine-man."  He  had 
learned  the  peculiar  treatment  of  the  aboriginal 
wizards,  though  not  their  fundamental  ideas.  The 
Indians  still  look  upon  sickness  as  a  "  being  pos 
sessed  ; "  and  their  idea  of  doctoring  is  not  so 
much  to  cure  disease,  as  to  exorcise  the  bad 
spirits  which  cause  it. 

This  is  done  by  a  sleight-of-hand  rigmarole,  even 
to  this  day.  The  medicine-man  would  suck  the 
sore  spot,  and  pretend  thus  to  extract  a  stone  or 
thorn  which  was  supposed  to  have  been  the  cause  of 
trouble  ;  and  the  patient  was  "  cured."  Cabeza  de 
Vaca  began  to  "  practise  medicine  "  after  the  Indian 
fashion.  He  says  himself,  "  I  have  tried  these 
things,  and  they  were  very  successful." 

When  the  four  wanderers  at  last  came  together 
after  their  long  separation,  —  in  which  all  had  suf 
fered  untold  horrors,  —  Vaca  had  then,  though  still 
indefinitely,  the  key  of  hope.  Their  first  plan  was 
to  escape  from  their  present  captors.  It  took  ten 
months  to  effect  it,  and  meantime  their  distress  was 
great,  as  it  had  been  constantly  for  so  many  years. 
At  times  they  lived  on  a  daily  ration  of  two  hand- 
fuls  of  wild  peas  and  a  little  water.  Vaca  relates 
what  a  godsend  it  seemed  when  he  was  allowed  to 
scrape  hides  for  the  Indians  ;  he  carefully  saved  the 
scrapings,  which  served  him  as  food  for  days.  They 
had  no  clothing,  and  there  was  no  shelter ;  and  con 
stant  exposure  to  heat  and  cold  and  the  myriad 


112  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

thorns  of  that  country  caused  them  to  "  shed  their 
skin  like  snakes." 

At  last,  in  August,  1535,  the  four  sufferers  es 
caped  to  a  tribe  called  the  Avavares.  But  now  a 
new  career  began  to  open  to  them.  That  his  com 
panions  might  not  be  as  useless  as  he  had  been, 
Cabeza  de  Vaca  had  instructed  them  in  the  "  arts  " 
of  Indian  medicine- men  ;  and  all  four  began  to  put 
their  new  and  strange  profession  into  practice.  To 
the  ordinary  Indian  charms  and  incantations  these 
humble  Christians  added  fervent  prayers  to  the  true 
God.  It  was  a  sort  of  sixteenth-century  "  faith- 
cure  ; "  and  naturally  enough,  among  such  supersti 
tious  patients  it  was  very  effective.  Their  multitu 
dinous  cures  the  amateur  but  sincere  doctors,  with 
touching  humility,  attributed  entirely  to  God ;  but 
what  great  results  these  might  have  upon  their  own 
fortunes  now  began  to  dawn  upon  them.  From 
wandering,  naked,  starving,  despised  beggars,  and 
slaves  to  brutal  savages,  they  suddenly  became  per 
sonages  of  note,  —  still  paupers  and  sufferers,  as 
were  all  their  patients,  but  paupers  of  mighty  power. 
There  is  no  fairy  tale  more  romantic  than  the  career 
thenceforth  of  these  poor,  brave  men  walking  pain 
fully  across  a  continent  as  masters  and  benefactors 
of  all  that  host  of  wild  people. 

Trudging  on  from  tribe  to  tribe,  painfully  and 
slowly  the  white  medicine-men  crossed  Texas  and 
came  close  to  our  present  New  Mexico.  It  has  long 
been  reiterated  by  the  closet  historians  that  they 
entered  New  Mexico,  and  got  even  as  far  north  as 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER.        113 

where  Santa  Fe  now  is.  But  modern  scientific 
research  has  absolutely  proved  that  they  went  on 
from  Texas  through  Chihuahua  and  Sonora,  and 
never  saw  an  inch  of  New  Mexico. 

With  each  new  tribe  the  Spaniards  paused  awhile 
to  heal  the  sick.  Everywhere  they  were  treated 
with  the  greatest  kindness  their  poor  hosts  could 
give,  and  with  religious  awe.  Their  progress  is  a 
very  valuable  object-lesson,  showing  just  how  some 
Indian  myths  are  formed  :  first,  the  successful  medi 
cine-man,  who  at  his  death  or  departure  is  remem 
bered  as  a  hero,  then  as  a  demigod,  then  as  divinity. 

In  the  Mexican  States  they  first  found  agricultural 
Indians,  who  dwelt  in  houses  of  sod  and  boughs,  and 
had  beans  and  pumpkins.  These  were  the  Jovas,  a 
branch  of  the  Pimas.  Of  the  scores  of  tribes  they 
had  passed  through  in  our  present  Southern  States 
not  one  has  been  fully  identified.  They  were  poor, 
wandering  creatures,  and  long  ago  disappeared  from 
the  earth.  But  in  the  Sierra  Madre  of  Mexico  they 
found  superior  Indians,  whom  we  can  recognize  still. 
Here  they  found  the  men  unclad,  but  the  women 
"very  honest  in  their  dress,"— with  cotton  tunics 
of  their  own  weaving,  with  half-sleeves,  and  a  skirt 
to  the  knee  ;  and  over  it  a  skirt  of  dressed  deerskin 
reaching  to  the  ground,  and  fastened  in  front  with 
straps.  They  washed  their  clothing  with  a  soapy 
root,  —  the  amok,  now  similarly  used  by  Indians  and 
Mexicans  throughout  the  Southwest.  These  people 
gave  Cabeza  de  Vaca  some  turquoise,  and  five  arrow 
heads  each  chipped  from  a  single  emerald. 
8 


114  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

In  this  village  in  southwestern  Sonora  the  Span 
iards  stayed  three  days,  living  on  split  deer-hearts  j 
whence  they  named  it  the  "  Town  of  Hearts." 

A  day's  march  beyond  they  met  an  Indian  wear 
ing  upon  his  necklace  the  buckle  of  a  sword-belt 
and  a  horseshoe  nail ;  and  their  hearts  beat  high  at 
this  first  sign,  in  all  their  eight  years'  wandering,  of 
the  nearness  of  Europeans.  The  Indian  told  them 
that  men  with  beards  like  their  own  had  come  from 
the  sky  and  made  war  upon  his  people. 

The  Spaniards  were  now  entering  Sinaloa,  and 
found  themselves  in  a  fertile  land  of  flowing  streams. 
The  Indians  were  in  mortal  fear ;  for  two  brutes  of 
a  class  who  were  very  rare  among  the  Spanish  con 
querors  (they  were,  I  am  glad  to  say,  punished  for 
their  violation  of  the  strict  laws  of  Spain)  were  then 
trying  to  catch  slaves.  The  soldiers  had  just  left ; 
but  Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  EsteVanico,  with  eleven 
Indians,  hurried  forward  on  their  trail,  and  next  day 
overtook  four  Spaniards,  who  led  them  to  their 
rascally  captain,  Diego  de  Alcaraz.  It  was  long 
before  that  officer  could  believe  the  wondrous  story 
told  by  the  naked,  torn,  shaggy,  wild  man ;  but  at 
last  his  coldness  was  thawed,  and  he  gave  a  certifi 
cate  of  the  date  and  of  the  condition  in  which  Vaca 
had  come  to  him,  and  then  sent  back  for  Dorantes 
and  Castillo.  Five  days  later  these  arrived,  accom 
panied  by  several  hundred  Indians. 

Alcaraz  and  his  partner  in  crime,  Cebreros,  wished 
to  enslave  these  -  aborigines ;  but  Cabeza  de  Vaca, 
regardless  of  his  own  danger  in  taking  such  a  stand, 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN   TRAVELLER.        115 

indignantly  opposed  the  infamous  plan,  and  finally 
forced  the  villains  to  abandon  it.  The  Indians 
were  saved ;  and  in  all  their  joy  at  getting  back  to 
the  world,  the  Spanish  wanderers  parted  with  sincere 
regret  from  these  simple-hearted  friends.  After  a 
few  days'  hard  travel  they  reached  the  post  of  Culi- 
acan  about  the  first  of  May,  1536,  where  they  were 
warmly  welcomed  by  the  ill-fated  hero  Melchior 
Diaz.  He  led  one  of  the  earliest  expeditions  (in 
1539)  to  the  unknown  north;  and  in  1540,  on  a 
second  expedition  across  part  of  Arizona  and  into 
California,  was  accidentally  killed. 

After  a  short  rest  the  wanderers  left  for  Compos- 
tela,  then  the  chief  town  of  the  province  of  New 
Galicia,  —  itself  a  small  journey  of  three  hundred 
miles  through  a  land  swarming  with  hostile  savages. 
At  last  they  reached  the  City  of  Mexico  in  safety, 
and  were  received  with  great  honor.  But  it  was 
long  before  they  could  accustom  themselves  to  eat 
ing  the  food  and  wearing  the  clothing  of  civilized 
people. 

The  negro  remained  in  Mexico.  On  the  zoth  of 
April,  1537,  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  Castillo,  and  Dorantes 
sailed  for  Spain,  arriving  in  August.  The  chief  hero 
never  came  back  to  North  America,  but  we  hear  of 
Dorantes  as  being  there  in  the  following  year.  Their 
report  of  what  they  saw,  and  of  the  stranger  coun 
tries  to  the  north  of  which  they  had  heard,  had 
already  set  on  foot  the  remarkable  expeditions  which 
resulted  in  the  discovery  of  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
our  Indian  Territory,  Kansas,  and  Colorado,  and 


Il6  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

brought  about  the  building  of  the  first  European 
towns  in  the  inland  area  of  the  United  States. 
Estevanico  was  engaged  with  Fray  Marcos  in  the 
discovery  of  New  Mexico,  and  was  slain  by  the 
Indians. 

Cabeza  de  Vaca,  as  a  reward  for  his  then  unpar 
alleled  walk  of  much  more  than  ten  thousand  miles 
in  the  unknown  land,  was  made  governor  of  Para 
guay  in  1 540.  He  was  not  qualified  for  the  place,  and 
returned  to  Spain  in  disgrace.  That  he  was  not  to 
blame,  however,  but  was  rather  the  victim  of  circum 
stances,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  he  was  restored 
to  favor  and  received  a  pension  of  two  thousand 
ducats.  He  died  in  Seville  at  a  good  old  age. 


THE  GREATEST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER.      117 


II. 

THE    GREATEST    AMERICAN    TRAVELLER. 

THE  student  most  familiar  with  history  finds 
himself  constantly  astounded  by  the  journeys 
of  the  Spanish  Pioneers.  If  they  had  done  nothing 
else  in  the  New  World,  their  walks  alone  were  enough 
to  earn  them  fame.  Such  a  number  of  similar  trips 
over  such  a  wilderness  were  never  heard  of  elsewhere. 
To  comprehend  those  rides  or  tramps  of  thousands 
of  miles,  by  tiny  bands  or  single  heroes,  one  must 
be  familiar  with  the  country  traversed,  and  know 
something  of  the  times  when  these  exploits  were 
performed.  The  Spanish  chroniclers  of  the  day  do 
not  dilate  upon  the  difficulties  and  dangers  :  it  is 
almost  a  pity  that  they  had  not  been  vain  enough  to 
"  make  more  "  of  their  obstacles.  But  however 
curt  the  narrative  may  be  on  these  points,  the  ob 
stacles  were  there  and  had  to  be  overcome ;  and  to 
this  very  day,  after  three  centuries  and  a  half  have 
mitigated  that  wilderness  which  covered  half  a  world, 
have  tamed  its  savages,  filled  it  with  convenient 
stations,  crossed  it  with  plain  roads,  and  otherwise 
removed  ninety  per  cent  of  its  terrors,  such  journeys 
as  were  looked  upon  as  every- day  matters  by  those 


!i8  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

hardy  heroes  would  find  few  bold  enough  to  under 
take  them.  The  only  record  at  all  comparable  to 
that  Spanish  overrunning  of  the  New  World  was  the 
story  of  the  California  Argonauts  of  '49,  who  flocked 
across  the  great  plains  in  the  most  remarkable  shift 
ing  of  population  of  which  history  knows  ;  but  even 
that  was  petty,  so  far  as  area,  hardship,  danger,  and 
endurance  went,  beside  the  travels  of  the  Pioneers. 
Thousand- mile  marches  through  the  deserts,  or  the 
still  more  fatal  tropic  forests,  were  too  many  to  be 
even  catalogued.  It  is  one  thing  to  follow  a  trail, 
and  quite  another  to  penetrate  an  absolutely  track 
less  wilderness.  A  big,  well-armed  wagon-train  is 
one  thing,  and  a  little  squad  on  foot  or  on  jaded 
horses  quite  another.  A  journey  from  a  known 
point  to  a  known  point  —  both  in  civilization, 
though  the  wilderness  lies  between  —  is  very  differ 
ent  from  a  journey  from  somewhere,  through  the  un 
known,  to  nowhere  ;  whose  starting,  course,  and  end 
are  all  untrodden  and  unguessed  wilds.  I  have  no 
desire  to  disparage  the  heroism  of  our  Argonauts,  — 
they  made  a  record  of  which  any  nation  should  be 
proud;  but  they  never  had  a  chance  to  match 
the  deeds  of  their  brother- heroes  of  another  tongue 
and  another  age. 

The  walk  of  Alvar  Nunez  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  the  first 
American  traveller,  was  surpassed  by  the  achieve 
ment  of  the  poor  and  forgotten  soldier  Andre's  Do- 
campo.  Cabeza  de  Vaca  tramped  much  more  than 
ten  thousand  miles,  but  Docampo  much  over  twenty 


THE  GREATEST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER.     119 

thousand,  and  under  as  fearful  hardships.  The  ex 
plorations  of  Vaca  were  far  more  valuable  to  the 
world ;  yet  neither  of  them  set  out  with  the  inten 
tion  of  exploring.  But  Docampo  did  make  a  fear 
ful  walk  voluntarily,  and  for  a  heroic  purpose,  which 
resulted  in  his  later  enormous  achievement;  while 
Vaca's  was  merely  the  heroism  of  a  very  uncom 
mon  man  in  escaping  misfortune.  Docampo's  tramp 
lasted  nine  years;  and  though  he  left  behind  no 
book  to  relate  his  experiences,  as  did  Vaca,  the 
skeleton  of  his  story  as  it  remains  to  us  is  extremely 
characteristic  and  suggestive  of  the  times,  and  re 
counts  other  heroism  than  that  of  the  brave  soldier. 

When  Coronado  first  came  to  New  Mexico  in 
1540,  he  brought  four  missionaries  with  his  little 
army.  Fray  Marcos  returned  soon  from  Zuni  to 
Mexico,  on  account  of  his  physical  infirmities. 
Fray  Juan  de  la  Cruz  entered  earnestly  into  mis 
sion-work  among  the  Pueblos ;  and  when  Coro 
nado  and  his  whole  force  abandoned  the  Territory, 
he  insisted  upon  remaining  behind  among  his  dusky 
wards  at  Tiguex  (Bernalillo) .  He  was  a  very  old 
man,  and  fully  expected  to  give  up  his  life  as  soon 
as  his  countrymen  should  be  gone ;  and  so  it  was. 
He  was  murdered  by  the  Indians  about  the  25th 
of  November,  1542. 

The  lay-brother,  Fray  Luis  Descalona,  also  a  very 
old  man,  chose  for  his  parish  the  pueblo  of  Tshi- 
quite  (Pecos),  and  remained  there  after  the  Span 
iards  had  left  the  country.  He  built  himself  a  little 
hut  outside  the  great  fortified  town  of  the  savages, 


120  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

and  there  taught  those  who  would  listen  to  him,  and 
tended  his  little  flock  of  sheep,  —  the  remnants  of 
those  Coronado  had  brought,  which  were  the  first 
that  ever  entered  the  present  United  States.  The 
people  came  to  love  him  sincerely,  —  all  save  the 
wizards,  who  hated  him  for  his  influence ;  and  these 
finally  murdered  him,  and  ate  the  sheep. 

Fray  Juan  de  Padilla,  the  youngest  of  the  four  mis 
sionaries,  and  the  first  martyr  on  the  soil  of  Kan 
sas,  was  a  native  of  Andalusia,  Spain,  and  a  man  of 
great  energy  both  mentally  and  physically.  He 
himself  made  no  mean  record  as  a  foot-traveller, 
and  our  professional  pedestrians  would  stand  aghast 
if  confronted  with  the  thousands  of  desert  miles  this 
tireless  apostle  to  the  Indians  plodded  in  the  wild 
Southwest.  He  had  already  held  very  important 
positions  in  Mexico,  but  gladly  gave  up  his  honors 
to  become  a  poor  missionary  among  the  savages  of 
the  unknown  north.  Having  walked  with  Corona- 
do's  force  from  Mexico  across  the  deserts  to  the 
Seven  Cities  of  Cibola,  Fray  Padilla  trudged  to 
Moqui  with  Pedro  de  Tobar  and  his  squad  of  twenty 
men.  Then  plodding  back  to  Zufii,  he  soon  set 
forth  again  with  Hernando  de  Alvarado  and  twenty 
men,  on  a  tramp  of  about  a  thousand  miles  more. 
He  was  in  this  expedition  with  the  first  Europeans 
that  ever  saw  the  lofty  town  of  Acoma,  the  Rio 
Grande  within  what  is  now  New  Mexico,  and  the 
great  pueblo  of  Pecos. 

In  the  spring  of  1541,  when  the  handful  of  an 
army  was  all  gathered  at  Bernalillo,  and  Coronado 


THE   GREATEST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER.     121 

set  out  to  chase  the  fatal  golden  myth  of  the  Qui- 
vira,  Fray  Padilla  accompanied  him.  In  that  march 
of  one  hundred  and  four  days  across  the  barren 
plains  before  they  reached  the  Quiviras  in  north 
eastern  Kansas,  the  explorers  suffered  tortures  for 
water  and  sometimes  for  food.  The  treacherous 
guide  misled  them,  and  they  wandered  long  in  a 
circle,  covering  a  fearful  distance,  —  probably  over 
fifteen  hundred  miles.  The  expedition  was  mounted, 
but  in  those  days  the  humble  padres  went  afoot. 
Finding  only  disappointment,  the  explorers  marched 
all  the  way  back  to  Bernalillo,  —  though  by  a  less  cir 
cuitous  route,  —  and  Fray  Padilla  came  with  them. 
But  he  had  already  decided  that  among  these 
hostile,  roving,  buffalo-living  Sioux  and  other  In 
dians  of  the  plains  should  be  his  field  of  labor; 
and  when  the  Spanish  evacuated  New  Mexico,  he 
remained.  With  him  were  the  soldier  Andre's  Do- 
campo,  two  young  men  of  Michuacan,  Mexico, 
named  Lucas  and  Sebastian,  called  the  Donados, 
and  a  few  Mexican  Indian  boys.  In  the  fall  of 
1542  the  little  party  left  Bernalillo  on  its  thou 
sand-mile  march.  Andre's  alone  was  mounted ;  the 
missionary  and  the  Indian  boys  trudged  along  the 
sandy  way  afoot.  They  went  by  way  of  the  pueblo 
of  Pecos,  thence  into  and  across  a  corner  of  what  is 
now  Colorado,  and  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the 
great  State  of  Kansas.  At  last,  after  a  long  and 
weary  tramp,  they  reached  the  temporary  lodge- 
villages  of  the  Quivira  Indians.  Coronado  had 
planted  a  large  cross  at  one  of  these  villages,  and 


122  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

here  Fray  Padilla  established  his  mission.  In  time 
the  hostile  savages  lost  their  distrust,  and  "loved 
him  as  a  father."  At  last  he  decided  to  move  on 
to  another  nomad  tribe,  where  there  seemed  greater 
need  of  his  presence.  It  was  a  dangerous  step  ;  for 
not  only  might  the  strangers  receive  him  murder 
ously,  but  there  was  equal  risk  in  leaving  his  present 
flock.  The  superstitious  Indians  were  loath  to  lose 
the  presence  of  such  a  great  medicine-man  as  they 
believed  the  Fray  to  be,  and  still  more  loath  to  have 
such  a  benefit  transferred  to  their  enemies,  —  for  all 
these  roving  tribes  were  at  war  with  one  another. 
Nevertheless,  Fray  Padilla  determined  to  go,  and 
set  out  with  his  little  retinue.  One  day's  journey 
from  the  villages  of  the  Quiviras,  they  met  a  band  of 
Indians  out  on  the  war-path.  Seeing  the  approach 
of  the  savages,  the  good  Father  thought  first  for  his 
companions.  Andre's  still  had  his  horse,  and  the 
boys  were  fleet  runners. 

"  Flee,  my  children  !  "  cried  Fray  Padilla.  "  Save 
yourselves,  for  me  ye  cannot  help,  and  why  should 
all  die  together?  Run  !  " 

They  at  first  refused,  but  the  missionary  insisted ; 
and  as  they  were  helpless  against  the  savages,  they 
finally  obeyed  and  fled.  This  may  not  seem,  at  first 
thought,  the  most  heroic  thing  to  do,  but  an  under 
standing  of  their  time  exonerates  them.  Not  only 
were  they  humble  men  used  to  give  the  good  priests 
implicit  obedience,  but  there  was  another  and  a  more 
potent  motive.  In  those  days  of  earnest  faith,  mar 
tyrdom  was  looked  upon  as  not  only  a  heroism  but 


THE  GREATEST  AMERICAN  TRAVELLER.     123 

a  prophecy;  it  was  believed  to  indicate  new  tri 
umphs  for  Christianity,  and  it  was  a  duty  to  carry 
back  to  the  world  the  news.  If  they  stayed  and  were 
slain  with  him,  —  as  I  am  sure  these  faithful  followers 
were  not  physically  afraid  to  do,  —  the  lesson  and 
glory  of  his  martyrdom  would  be  lost  to  the  world. 

Fray  Juan  knelt  on  the  broad  prairie  and  com 
mended  his  soul  to  God;  and  even  as  he  prayed, 
the  Indians  riddled  him  with  arrows.  They  dug  a 
pit  and  cast  therein  the  body  of  the  first  Kansas 
martyr,  and  piled  upon  it  a  great  pile  of  stones. 
This  was  in  the  year  1542. 

Andre's  Docampo  and  the  boys  made  their  escape 
at  the  time,  but  were  soon  captured  by  other  Indians 
and  kept  as  slaves  for  ten  months.  They  were  beaten 
and  starved,  and  obliged  to  perform  the  most  labori 
ous  and  menial  tasks.  At  last,  after  long  planning 
and  many  unsuccessful  attempts,  they  escaped  from 
their  barbarous  captors.  Then  for  more  than  eight 
years  they  wandered  on  foot,  unarmed  and  alone, 
up  and  down  the  thirsty  and  inhospitable  plains, 
enduring  incredible  privations  and  dangers.  At  last, 
after  those  thousands  of  footsore  miles,  they  walked 
into  the  Mexican  town  of  Tampico,  on  the  great 
Gulf.  They  were  received  as  those  come  back  from 
the  dead.  We  lack  the  details  of  that  grim  and 
matchless  walk,  but  it  is  historically  established. 
For  nine  years  these  poor  fellows  zigzagged  the 
deserts  afoot,  beginning  in  northeastern  Kansas 
and  coming  out  far  down  in  Mexico. 

Sebastian  died  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  Mexi- 


124  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

can  State  of  Culiacan ;  the  hardships  of  the  trip 
had  been  too  much  for  even  his  strong  young  body. 
His  brother  Lucas  became  a  missionary  among  the 
Indians  of  Zacatecas,  Mexico,  and  carried  on  his 
work  among  them  for  many  years,  dying  at  last  in  a 
ripe  old  age.  As  for  the  brave  soldier  Docampo, 
soon  after  his  return  to  civilization  he  disappeared 
from  view.  Perhaps  old  Spanish  documents  may 
yet  be  discovered  which  will  throw  some  light  on  his 
subsequent  life  and  his  fate. 


THE    WAR  OF   THE  ROCK.  125 


III. 

THE   WAR  OF   THE   ROCK. 

' — 

SOME  of  the  most  characteristic  heroisms  and 
hardships  of  the  Pioneers  in  our  domain  clus 
ter  about  the  wondrous  rock  of  Acoma,  the  strange 
sky-city  of  the  Quires 1  Pueblos.  All  the  Pueblo 
cities  were  built  in  positions  which  Nature  herself 
had  fortified,  —  a  necessity  of  the  times,  since  they 
were  surrounded  by  outnumbering  hordes  of  the 
deadliest  warriors  in  history;  but  Acoma  was  most 
secure  of  all.  In  the  midst  of  a  long  valley,  four 
miles  wide,  itself  lined  by  almost  insurmountable 
precipices,  towers  a  lofty  rock,  whose  top  is  about 
seventy  acres  in  area,  and  whose  walls,  three  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  feet  high,  are  not  merely  perpendicu 
lar,  but  in  most  places  even  overhanging.  Upon  its 
summit  was  perched  —  and  is  to-day  —  the  dizzy  city 
of  the  Queres.  The  few  paths  to  the  top — whereon 
a  misstep  will  roll  the  victim  to  horrible  death,  hun 
dreds  of  feet  below  —  are  by  wild,  precipitous  clefts, 
at  the  head  of  which  one  determined  man,  with  no 
other  weapons  than  stones,  could  almost  hold  at  bay 
an  army. 

1  Pronounced  Kay-ress. 


126  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

This  strange  aerial  town  was  first  heard  of  by 
Europeans  in  1539,  when  Fray  Marcos,  the  dis 
coverer  of  New  Mexico,  was  told  by  the  people  of 
Cibola  of  the  great  rock  fortress  of  Hakuque, — 
their  name  for  Acoma,  which  the  natives  them 
selves  called  Ah'ko.  In  the  following  year  Coro- 
nado  visited  it  with  his  little  army,  and  has  left  us 
an  accurate  account  of  its  wonders.  These  first 
Europeans  were  well  received  there  j  and  the  su 
perstitious  natives,  who  had  never  seen  a  beard 
or  a  white  face  before,  took  the  strangers  for  gods. 
But  it  was  more  than  half  a  century  later  yet  before 
the  Spaniards  sought  a  foothold  there. 

When  Onate  entered  New  Mexico  in  1598,  he 
met  no  immediate  resistance  whatever ;  for  his  force 
of  four  hundred  people,  including  two  hundred  men- 
at-arms,  was  large  enough  to  awe  the  Indians.  They 
were  naturally  hostile  to  these  invaders  of  their 
domain ;  but  finding  themselves  well  treated  by  the 
strangers,  and  fearful  of  open  war  against  these  men 
with  hard  clothes,  who  killed  from  afar  with  their 
thunder-sticks,  the  Pueblos  awaited  results.  The 
Quires,  Tigua,  and  Jemez  branches  formally  submit 
ted  to  Spanish  rule,  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Crown  by  their  representative  men  gathered 
at  the  pueblo  of  Guipuy  (now  Santo  Domingo)  ;  as 
also  did  the  Tanos,  Picuries,  Tehuas,  and  Taos,  at 
a  similar  conference  at  the  pueblo  of  San  Juan,  in 
September,  1598.  At  this  ready  submission  Onate 
was  greatly  encouraged ;  and  he  decided  to  visit 
all  the  principal  pueblos  in  person,  to  make  them 


THE    WAR  OF   THE  ROCK.  127 

securer  subjects  of  his  sovereign.  He  had  founded 
already  the  first  town  in  New  Mexico  and  the 
second  in  the  United  States,  —  San  Gabriel  de  los 
Espanoles,  where  Chamita  stands  to-day.  Before 
starting  on  this  perilous  journey,  he  despatched 
Juan  de  Zaldivar,  his  maestro  de  campo?  with  fifty 
men  to  explore  the  vast,  unknown  plains  to  the 
east,  and  then  to  follow  him. 

Onate  and  a  small  force  left  the  lonely  little 
Spanish  colony,  —  more  than  a  thousand  miles  from 
any  other  town  of  civilized  men,  —  October  6, 
1598.  First  he  marched  to  the  pueblos  in  the 
great  plains  of  the  Salt  Lakes,  east  of  the  Man- 
zano  mountains,  —  a  thirsty  journey  of  more  than 
two  hundred  miles.  Then  returning  to  the  pueblo 
of  Puaray  (opposite  the  present  Bernalillo),  he 
turned  westward.  On  the  2  yth  of  the  same  month 
he  camped  at  the  foot  of  the  lofty  cliffs  of  Acoma. 
The  principals  (chief  men)  of  the  town  came 
down  from  the  rock,  and  took  the  solemn  pledge 
of  allegiance  to  the  Spanish  Crown.  They  were 
thoroughly  warned  of  the  deep  importance  and 
meaning  of  this  step,  and  that  if  they  violated 
their  oath  they  would  be  regarded  and  treated  as 
rebels  against  his  Majesty;  but  they  fully  pledged 
themselves  to  be  faithful  vassals.  They  were  very 
friendly,  and  repeatedly  invited  the  Spanish  com 
mander  and  his  men  to  visit  their  sky- city.  In 
truth,  they  had  had  spies  at  the  conferences  in 
Santo  Domingo  and  San  Juan,  and  had  decided 
1  Commander  in  the  field  :  equivalent  to  our  colonel. 


I28  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

that  the  most  dangerous  man  among  the  invaders 
was  Onate  himself.  If  he  could  be  slain,  they 
thought  the  rest  of  the  pale  strangers  might  be 
easily  routed. 

But  Onate  knew  nothing  of  their  intended  treach 
ery  ;  and  on  the  following  day  he  and  his  handful 
of  men  —  leaving  only  a  guard  with  the  horses  — 
climbed  one  of  the  breathless  stone  "  ladders,"  and 
stood  in  Acoma.  The  officious  Indians  piloted  them 
hither  and  yon,  showing  them  the  strange  terraced 
houses  of  many  stories  in  height,  the  great  reservoirs 
in  the  eternal  rock,  and  the  dizzy  brink  which  every 
where  surrounded  the  eyrie  of  a  town.  At  last  they 
brought  the  Spaniards  to  where  a  huge  ladder,  pro 
jecting  far  aloft  through  a  trapdoor  in  the  roof  of  a 
large  house,  indicated  the  estufa,  or  sacred  council- 
chamber.  The  visitors  mounted  to  the  roof  by  a 
smaller  ladder,  and  the  Indians  tried  to  have  Onate 
descend  through  the  trapdoor.  But  the  Spanish 
governor,  noting  that  all  was  dark  in  the  room  be 
low,  and  suddenly  becoming  suspicious,  declined  to 
enter;  and  as  his  soldiers  were  all  about,  the  In 
dians  did  not  insist.  After  a  short  visit  in  the 
pueblo  the  Spaniards  descended  the  rock  to  their 
camp,  and  thence  marched  away  on  their  long 
and  dangerous  journey  to  Moqui  and  Zufii.  That 
swift  flash  of  prudence  in  Onate's  mind  saved  the 
history  of  New  Mexico  ;  for  in  that  dark  estufa  was 
lying  a  band  of  armed  warriors.  Had  he  entered 
the  room,  he  would  have  been  slain  at  once ;  and 
his  death  was  to  be  the  signal  for  a  general  on- 


THE    WAR  OP    THE  ROCK.  129 


Ugh 

ivar 


slaught  upon  the  Spaniards,  all  of  whom  must  have 
perished  in  the  unequal  fight. 

Returning  from  his  march  of  exploration  through 
the  trackless  and  deadly  plains,  Juan  de  Zaldivar 
left  San  Gabriel  on  the  i8th  of  November,  to  follow 
his  commander-in-chief.  He  had  but  thirty  men. 
Reaching  the  foot  of  the  City  in  the  Sky  on  the  4th 
of  December,  he  was  very  kindly  received  by  the 
Acomas,  who  invited  him  up  into  their  town.  Juan 
was  a  good  soldier,  as  well  as  a  gallant  one,  and 
well  used  to  the  tricks  of  Indian  warfare ;  but  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life  —  and  the  last  —  he  now 
let  himself  be  deceived.  Leaving  half  his  little  force 
at  the  foot  of  the  cliff  to  guard  the  camp  and 
horses,  he  himself  went  up  with  sixteen  men.  The 
town  was  so  full  of  wonders,  the  people  so  cordial, 
that  the  visitors  soon  forgot  whatever  suspicions 
they  may  have  had ;  and  by  degrees  they  scattered 
hither  and  yon  to  see  the  strange  sights.  The 
natives  had  been  waiting  only  for  this ;  and  when 
the  war-chief  gave  the  wild  whoop,  men,  women, 
and  children  seized  rocks  and  clubs,  bows  and  flint- 
knives,  and  fell  furiously  upon  the  scattered  Span 
iards.  It  was  a  ghastly  and  an  unequal  fight  the 
winter  sun  looked  down  upon  that  bitter  afternoon  in 
the  cliff  city.  Here  and  there,  with  back  against  the 
wall  of  one  of  those  strange  houses,  stood  a  gray- 
faced,  tattered,  bleeding  soldier,  swinging  his  clumsy 
flintlock  club-like,  or  hacking  with  desperate  but 
unavailing  sword  at  the  dark,  ravenous  mob  that 
hemmed  him,  while  stones  rained  upon  his  bent 
9 


130  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

visor,  and  clubs  and  cruel  flints  sought  him  from 
every  side.  There  was  no  coward  blood  among 
that  doomed  band.  They  sold  their  lives  dearly; 
in  front  of  every  one  lay  a  sprawling  heap  of  dead. 
But  one  by  one  the  howling  wave  of  barbarians 
drowned  each  grim,  silent  fighter,  and  swept  off  to 
swell  the  murderous  flood  about  the  next.  Zal- 
divar  himself  was  one  of  the  first  victims ;  and  two 
other  officers,  six  soldiers,  and  two  servants  fell  in 
that  uneven  combat.  The  five  survivors  —  Juan 
Tabaro,  who  was  alguacil-mayor,  with  four  sold 
iers —  got  at  last  together,  and  with  superhuman 
strength  fought  their  way  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff, 
bleeding  from  many  wounds.  But  their  savage 
foes  still  pressed  them;  and  being  too  faint  to 
carve  their  way  to  one  of  the  "ladders,"  in  the 
wildness  of  desperation  the  five  sprang  over  the 
beetling  cliff. 

Never  but  once  was  recorded  so  frightful  a  leap 
as  that  of  Tabaro  and  his  four  companions.  Even  if 
we  presume  that  they  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
reach  the  very  lowest  point  of  the  rock,  it  could 
not  have  been  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 7 
And  yet  only  one  of  the  five  was  killed  by  this  in 
conceivable  fall;  the  remaining  four,  cared  for  by 
their  terrified  companions  in  the  camp,  all  finally 
recovered.  It  would  be  incredible,  were  it  not  es- 

Itablished  by  absolute  historical  proof.  It  is  prob 
able  that  they  fell  upon  one  of  the  mounds  of  white 
Ujand  which  the  winds  had  drifted  against  the  foot  of 
;he  cliffs  in  places. 


THE    WAR  OF   THE  ROCK.  131 

Fortunately,  the  victorious  savages  did  not  attack 
the  little  camp.  The  survivors  still  had  their  horses, 
of  which  unknown  brutes  the  Indians  had  a  great 
fear.  For  several  days  the  fourteen  soldiers  and 
their  four  half-dead  companions  camped  under  the 
overhanging  cliff,  where  they  were  safe  from  missiles 
from  above,  hourly  expecting  an  onslaught  from  the 
savages.  They  felt  sure  that  this  massacre  of  their 
comrades  was  but  the  prelude  to  a  general  uprising 
of  the  twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand  Pueblos ;  and 
regardless  of  the  danger  to  themselves,  they  decided 
at  last  to  break  up  into  little  bands,  and  separate,  — 
some  to  follow  their  commander  on  his  lonely  march 
to  Moqui,  and  warn  him  of  his  danger ;  and  others 
to  hasten  over  the  hundreds  of  arid  miles  to  San  Ga 
briel  and  the  defence  of  its  women  and  babes,  and 
to  the  missionaries  who  had  scattered  among  the 
savages.  This  plan  of  self-devotion  was  successfully 
carried  out.  The  little  bands  of  three  and  four 
apiece  bore  the  news  to  their  countrymen ;  and  by 
the  end  of  the  year  1598  all  the  surviving  Spaniards 
in  New  Mexico  were  safely  gathered  in  the  hamlet 
of  San  Gabriel.  The  little  town  was  built  pueblo- 
fashion,  in  the  shape  of  a  hollow  square.  In  the 
Plaza  within  were  planted  the  rude  pedreros  —  small 
howitzers  which  fired  a  ball  of  stone  —  to  command 
the  gates;  and  upon  the  roofs  of  the  three-story 
adobe  houses  the  brave  women  watched  by  day,  and 
the  men  with  their  heavy  flintlocks  all  through  the 
winter  nights,  to  guard  against  the  expected  at 
tack.  But  the  Pueblos  rested  on  their  arms.  They 


13  2  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

were  waiting  to  see  what  Onate  would  do  with 
Acoma,  before  they  took  final  measures  against  the 
strangers. 

It  was  a  most  serious  dilemma  in  which  Onate 
now  found  himself.  One  need  not  have  known  half 
so  much  about  the  Indian  character  as  did  this  gray, 
quiet  Spaniard,  to  understand  that  he  must  signally 
punish  the  rebels  for  the  massacre  of  his  men,  or 
abandon  his  colony  and  New  Mexico  altogether. 
If  such  an  outrage  went  unpunished,  the  emboldened 
Pueblos  would  destroy  the  last  Spaniard.  On  the 
other  hand,  how  could  he  hope  to  conquer  that 
impregnable  fortress  of  rock?  He  had  less  than 
two  hundred  men ;  and  only  a  small  part  of  these 
could  be  spared  for  the  campaign,  lest  the  other 
Pueblos  in  their  absence  should  rise  and  annihilate 
San  Gabriel  and  its  people.  In  Acoma  there  were 
full  three  hundred  warriors,  reinforced  by  at  least 
a  hundred  Navajo  braves. 

But  there  was  no  alternative.  The  more  he  re 
flected  and  counselled  with  his  officers,  the  more 
apparent  it  became  that  the  only  salvation  was  to 
capture  the  Quires  Gibraltar ;  and  the  plan  was  de 
cided  upon.  Onate  naturally  desired  to  lead  in  per 
son  this  forlornest  of  forlorn  hopes ;  but  there  was 
one  who  had  even  a  better  claim  to  the  desperate 
honor  than  the  captain-general,  —  and  that  one 
was  the  forgotten  hero  Vicente  de  Zaldivar,  brother 
of  the  murdered  Juan.  He  was  sargcnto-mayor1  of 
the  little  army ;  and  when  he  came  to  Onate  and 
1  Equivalent  to  lieutenant-colonel. 


THE   WAR  OP  THE  ROCK.  133 

begged  to  be  given  command  of  the  expedition 
against  Acoma,  there  was  no  saying  him  nay. 

On  the  1 2th  of  January,  1599,  Vicente  de  Zaldivar 
left  San  Gabriel  at  the  head  of  seventy  men.  Only 
a  few  of  them  had  even  the  clumsy  flintlocks  of  the 
day  ;  the  majority  were  not  arquebusiers  butpiguters, 
armed  only  with  swords  and  lances,  and  clad  in 
jackets  of  quilted  cotton  or  battered  mail.  One 
small  pedrero,  lashed  upon  the  back  of  a  horse,  was 
the  only  "  artillery." 

Silently  and  sternly  the  little  force  made  its  ardu 
ous  march.  All  knew  that  impregnable  rock,  and 
few  cherished  an  expectation  of  returning  from  so 
desperate  a  mission;  but  there  was  no  thought  of 
turning  back.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  eleventh  day 
the  tired  soldiers  passed  the  last  intervening  mesa,1 
and  came  in  sight  of  Acoma.  The  Indians,  warned 
by  their  runners,  were  ready  to  receive  them.  The 
whole  population,  with  the  Navajo  allies,  were  under 
arms,  on  the  housetops  and  the  commanding  cliffs. 
Naked  savages,  painted  black,  leaped  from  crag  to 
crag,  screeching  defiance  and  heaping  insults  upon 
the  Spaniards.  The  medicine-men,  hideously  dis 
guised,  stood  on  projecting  pinnacles,  beating  their 
drums  and  scattering  curses  and  incantations  to  the 
winds ;  and  all  the  populace  joined  in  derisive  howls 
and  taunts. 

Zaldivar  halted  his  little  band  as  close  to  the  foot 
of  the  cliff  as  he  could  come  without  danger.  The 
indispensable  notary  stepped  from  the  ranks,  and  at 
1  Huge  "  table  "  of  rock. 


134  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  blast  of  the  trumpet  proceeded  to  read  at  the 
top  of  his  lungs  the  formal  summons  in  the  name  of 
the  king  of  Spain  to  surrender.  Thrice  he  shouted 
through  the  summons  ;  but  each  time  his  voice  was 
drowned  by  the  howls  and  shrieks  of  the  enraged 
savages,  and  a  hail  of  stones  and  arrows  fell  danger 
ously  near.  Zaldivar  had  desired  to  secure  the  sur 
render  of  the  pueblo,  demand  the  delivery  to  him  of 
the  ringleaders  in  the  massacre,  and  take  them  back 
with  him  to  San  Gabriel  for  official  trial  and  punish 
ment,  without  harm  to  the  other  people  of  Acoma ; 
but  the  savages,  secure  in  their  grim  fortress,  mocked 
the  merciful  appeal.  It  was  clear  that  Acoma  must 
be  stormed.  The  Spaniards  camped  on  the  bare 
sands  and  passed  the  night  —  made  hideous  by  the 
sounds  of  a  monster  war- dance  in  the  town  —  in 
gloomy  plans  for  the  morrow. 


THR  STORMING  OP   THE  SKY-CITY.         135 


IV. 

THE   STORMING   OF   THE    SKY-CITY. 

AT  daybreak,  on  the  morning  of  January  22, 
Zaldivar  gave  the  signal  for  the  attack ;  and 
the  main  body  of  the  Spaniards  began  firing  their 
few  arquebuses,  and  making  a  desperate  assault  at 
the  north  end  of  the  great  rock,  there  absolutely 
impregnable.  The  Indians,  crowded  along  the  cliffs 
above,  poured  down  a  rain  of  missiles ;  and  many 
of  the  Spaniards  were  wounded.  Meanwhile  twelve 
picked  men,  who  had  hidden  during  the  night 
under  the  overhanging  cliff  which  protected  them 
alike  from  the  fire  and  the  observation  of  the 
Indians,  were  crawling  stealthily  around  under  the 
precipice,  dragging  the  pedrero  by  ropes.  Most  of 
these  twelve  were  arquebusiers ;  and  besides  the 
weight  of  the  ridiculous  little  cannon,  they  had  their 
ponderous  flint-locks  and  their  clumsy  armor, — 
poor  helps  for  scaling  heights  which  the  unencum 
bered  athlete  finds  difficult.  Pursuing  their  toilsome 
way  unobserved,  pulling  one  another  and  then  the 
pedrero  up  the  ledges,  they  reached  at  last  the  top 
of  a  great  outlying  pinnacle  of  rock,  separated  from 
the  main  cliff  of  Acoma  by  a  narrow  but  awful 
chasm.  Late  in  the  afternoon  they  had  their  how- 


a  i 

gr< 
eai 


136  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

itzer  trained  upon  the  town ;  and  the  loud  report, 
as  its  cobble-stone  ball  flew  into  Acoma,  signalled 
the  main  body  at  the  north  end  of  the  mesa  that 
the  first  vantage-ground  had  been  safely  gained,  and 
at  the  same  time  warned  the  savages  of  danger  from 
a  new  quarter. 

That  night  little  squads  of  Spaniards  climbed  the 
great  precipices  which  wall  the  trough-like  valley  on 
east  and  west,  cut  down  small  pines,  and  with  infi 
nite  labor  dragged  the  logs  down  the  cliffs,  across 
the  valley,  and  up  the  butte  on  which  the  twelve 
were  stationed.  About  a  score  of  men  were  left  to 
guard  the  horses  at  the  north  end  of  the  mesa  ;  and 
the  rest  of  the  force  joined  the  twelve,  hiding  behind 
the  crags  of  their  rock-tower.  Across  the  chasm 
the  Indians  were  lying  in  crevices,  or  behind  rocks, 
awaiting  the  attack. 

At  daybreak  of  the  23d,  a  squad  of  picked  men 
at  a  given  signal  rushed  from  their  hiding-places 
with  a  log  on  their  shoulders,  and  by  a  lucky  cast 
lodged  its  farther  end  on  the  opposite  brink  of  the 
abyss.  Out  dashed  the  Spaniards  at  their  heels,  and 
began  balancing  across  that  dizzy  "  bridge  "  in  the 
face  of  a  volley  of  stones  and  arrows.  A  very  few 
had  crossed,  when  one  in  his  excitement  caught  the 
rope  and  pulled  the  log  across  after  him. 

It  was  a  fearful  moment.  There  were  less  than 
a  dozen  Spaniards  thus  left  standing  alone  on  the 
brink  of  Acoma,  cut  off  from  their  companions  by 
a  gulf  hundreds  of  feet  deep,  and  surrounded  by 
swarming  savages.  The  Indians,  sallying  from  their 


THE  STORMING  OF    THE  SKY-CITY.         137 

refuge,  fell  instantly  upon  them  on  every  hand.  As 
long  as  the  Spanish  soldier  could  keep  the  Indians 
at  a  distance,  even  his  clumsy  firearms  and  ineffi 
cient  armor  gave  an  advantage ;  but  at  such  close 
quarters  these  very  things  were  a  fatal  impediment 
by  their  weight  and  clumsiness.  Now  it  seemed  as  if 
the  previous  Acoma  massacre  were  to  be  repeated, 
and  the  cut-off  Spaniards  to  be  hacked  to  pieces ; 
but  at  this  very  crisis  a  deed  of  surpassing  personal 
valor  saved  them  and  the  cause  of  Spain  in- New 
Mexico.  A  slender,  bright-faced  young  officer,  a 
college  boy  who  was  a  special  friend  and  favorite  of 
Onate,  sprang  from  the  crowd  of  dismayed  Spaniards 
on  the  farther  bank,  who  dared  not  fire  into  that  in 
discriminate  jostle  of  friend  and  foe,  and  came  run 
ning  like  a  deer  toward  the  chasm.  As  he  reached 
its  brink  his  lithe  body  gathered  itself,  sprang  into 
the  air  like  a  bird,  and  cleared  the  gulf !  Seizing  the 
log,  he  thrust  it  back  with  desperate  strength  until 
his  companions  could  grasp  it  from  the  farther 
brink;  and  over  the  restored  bridge  the  Spanish 
soldiers  poured  to  retrieve  the  day. 

Then  began  one  of  the  most  fearful  hand-to-hand 
struggles  in  all  American  history.  Outnumbered 
nearly  ten  to  one,  lost  in  a  howling  mob  of  savages 
who  fought  with  the  frenzy  of  despair,  gashed  with 
raw-edged  knives,  dazed  with  crushing  clubs,  pierced 
with  bristling  arrows,  spent  and  faint  and  bleeding, 
Zaldivar  and  his  hero-handful  fought  their  way  inch 
by  inch,  step  by  step,  clubbing  their  heavy  guns, 
hewing  with  their  short  swords,  parrying  deadly 


138  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

blows,  pulling  the  barbed  arrows  from  their  quiver 
ing  flesh.  On,  on,  on  they  pressed,  shouting  the 
gallant  war-cry  of  Santiago,  driving  the  stubborn  foe 
before  them  by  still  more  stubborn  valor,  until  at 
last  the  Indians,  fully  convinced  that  these  were 
no  human  foes,  fled  to  the  refuge  of  their  fort-like 
houses,  and  there  was  room  for  the  reeling  Span 
iards  to  draw  breath.  Then  thrice  again  the  sum 
mons  to  surrender  was  duly  read  before  the  strange 
tenements,  each  near  a  thousand  feet  long,  and 
looking  like  a  flight  of  gigantic  steps  carved  from 
one  rock.  Zaldivar  even  now  wished  to  spare  un 
necessary  bloodshed,  and  demanded  only  that  the 
assassins  of  his  brother  and  countrymen  should  be 
given  up  for  punishment.  All  others  who  should 
surrender  and  become  subjects  of  "Our  Lord  the 
King "  should  be  well  treated.  But  the  dogged 
Indians,  like  wounded  wolves  in  their  den,  stuck  in 
their  barricaded  houses,  and  refused  all  terms  of 
peace. 

The  rock  was  captured,  but  the  town  remained. 
A  pueblo  is  a  fortress  in  itself;  and  now  Zaldivar 
had  to  storm  Acoma  house  by  house,  room  by  room. 
The  little  pedrero  was  dragged  in  front  of  the  first 
row  of  houses,  and  soon  began  to  deliver  its  slow 
fire.  As  the  adobe  walls  crumbled  under  the  steady 
battering  of  the  stone  cannon-balls,  they  only  formed 
great  barricades  of  clay,  which  even  our  modern 
artillery  would  not  pierce ;  and  each  had  to  be  car 
ried  separately  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  Some 
of  the  fallen  houses  caught  fire  from  their  own 


THE  STORMING  OP  THE  SKY-CITY.          139 

fogones ; l  and  soon  a  stifling  smoke  hung  over  the 
town,  from  which  issued  the  shrieks  of  women  and 
babes  and  the  defiant  yells  of  the  warriors.  The 
humane  Zaldivar  made  every  effort  to  save  the 
women  and  children,  at  great  risk  of  self;  but 
numbers  perished  beneath  the  falling  walls  of  their 
own  houses. 

This  fearful  storming  lasted  until  noon  of  Jan 
uary  24.  Now  and  then  bands  of  warriors  made 
sorties,  and  tried  to  cut  their  way  through  the  Span 
ish  line.  Many  sprang  in  desperation  over  the  cliff, 
and  were  dashed  to  pieces  at  its  foot ;  and  two  In 
dians  who  made  that  incredible  leap  survived  it  as 
miraculously  as  had  the  four  Spaniards  in  the  earlier 
massacre,  and  made  their  escape. 

At  last,  at  noon  of  the  third  day,  the  old  men 
came  forth  to  sue  for  mercy,  which  was  at  once 
granted.  The  moment  they  surrendered,  their  re 
bellion  was  forgotten  and  their  treachery  forgiven. 
There  was  no  need  of  further  punishment.  The 
ringleaders  in  the  murder  of  Zaldivar's  brother  were 
all  dead,  and  so  were  nearly  all  the  Navajo  allies.  It 
was  the  most  bloody  struggle  New  Mexico  ever  saw. 
In  this  three  days'  fight  the  Indians  lost  five  hun 
dred  slain  and  many  wounded ;  and  of  the  surviving 
Spaniards  not  one  but  bore  to  his  grave  many  a 
ghastly  scar  as  mementos  of  Acoma.  The  town 
was  so  nearly  destroyed  that  it  had  all  to  be  rebuilt ; 
and  the  infinite  labor  with  which  the  patient  people 
had  brought  up  that  cliff  on  their  backs  all  the  stones 
1  Fireplaces. 


1 40  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

and  timber  and  clay  to  build  a  many-storied  town 
for  nearly  a  thousand  souls  was  all  to  be  repeated. 
Their  crops,  too,  and  all  other  supplies,  stored  in 
dark  little  rooms  of  the  terraced  houses,  had  been 
destroyed,  and  they  were  in  sore  want.  Truly  a 
bitter  punishment  had  been  sent  them  by  "  those 
above  "  for  their  treachery  to  Juan  de  Zaldivar. 

When  his  men  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  their 
wounds  Vicente  de  Zaldivar,  the  leader  of  probably 
the  most  wonderful  capture  in  history,  marched  vic 
torious  back  to  San  Gabriel  de  los  Espanoles,  taking 
with  him  eighty  young  Acoma  girls,  whom  he  sent 
to  be  educated  by  the  nuns  in  Old  Mexico.  What  a 
shout  must  have  gone  up  from  the  gray  walls  of  the 
little  colony  when  its  anxious  watchers  saw  at  last 
the  wan  and  unexpected  tatters  of  its  little  army 
pricking  slowly  homeward  across  the  snows  on  jaded 
steeds  ! 

The  rest  of  the  Pueblos,  who  had  been  lying  de 
mure  as  cats,  with  claws  sheathed,  but  every  lithe 
muscle  ready  to  spring,  were  fairly  paralyzed  with 
awe.  They  had  looked  to  see  the  Spaniards  de 
feated,  if  not  crushed,  at  Acoma ;  and  then  a  swift 
rising  of  all  the  tribes  would  have  made  short  work 
of  the  remaining  invaders.  But  now  the  impossible 
had  happened  !  Ah'ko,  the  proud  sky-city  of  the 
Queres ;  Ah'ko,  the  cliff-girt  and  impregnable,  — 
had  fallen  before  the  pale  strangers  !  Its  brave 
warriors  had  come  to  naught,  its  strong  houses  were 
a  chaos  of  smoking  ruins,  its  wealth  was  gone,  its 
people  nearly  wiped  from  off  the  earth  !  What  use 


THE  STORMING  OF   THE  SKY-CITY.         141 

to  struggle  against  "such  men  of  power,"  —  these 
strange  wizards  who  must  be  precious  to  "  those 
above,"  else  they  never  could  have  such  superhuman 
prowess?  The  strung  sinews  relaxed,  and  the  great 
cat  began  to  purr  as  though  she  had  never  dreamt 
of  mousing.  There  was  no  more  thought  of  a  re 
bellion  against  the  Spaniards ;  and  the  Indians  even 
went  out  of  their  way  to  court  the  favor  of  these 
awesome  strangers.  They  brought  Onate  the  news 
of  the  fall  of  Acoma  several  days  before  Zaldivar 
and  his  heroes  got  back  to  the  little  colony,  and 
even  were  mean  enough  to  deliver  to  him  two  Queres 
refugees  from  that  dread  field  who  had  sought  shel 
ter  among  them.  Thenceforth  Governor  Onate  had 
no  more  trouble  with  the  Pueblos. 

But  Acoma  itself  seemed  to  take  the  lesson  to 
heart  less  than  any  of  them.  Too  crushed  and 
broken  to  think  of  further  war  with  its  invincible 
foes,  it  still  remained  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Span 
iards  for  full  thirty  years,  until  it  was  again  con 
quered  by  a  heroism  as  splendid  as  Zaldivar's, 
though  in  a  far  different  way. 

In  1629  Fray  Juan  Ramirez,  "the  Apostle  of 
Acoma,"  left  Santa  Fe"  alone  to  found  a  mission  in 
that  lofty  home  of  fierce  barbarians.  An  escort  of 
soldiers  was  offered  him,  but  he  declined  it,  and 
started  unaccompanied  and  on  foot,  with  no  other 
weapon  than  his  crucifix.  Tramping  his  foot 
sore  and  dangerous  way,  he  came  after  many  days 
to  the  foot  of  the  great  "  island  "  of  rock,  and  began 
the  ascent.  As  soon  as  the  savages  saw  a  stranger 


142  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

of  the  hated  people,  they  rallied  to  the  brink  of  the 
cliff  and  poured  down  a  great  flight  of  arrows,  some 
of  which  pierced  his  robes.  Just  then  a  little  girl 
of  Acoma,  who  was  standing  on  the  edge  of  the 
cliff,  grew  frightened  at  the  wild  actions  of  her 
people,  and  losing  her  balance  tumbled  over  the 
precipice.  By  a  strange  providence  she  fell  but  a 
few  yards,  and  landed  on  a  sandy  ledge  near  the 
Fray,  but  out  of  sight  of  her  people,  who  presumed 
that  she  had  fallen  the  whole  height  of  the  cliff. 
Fray  Juan  climbed  to  her,  and  carried  her  unhurt  to 
the  top  of  the  rock ;  and  seeing  this  apparent  mira 
cle,  the  savages  were  disarmed,  and  received  him  as 
a  good  wizard.  The  good  man  dwelt  alone  there 
in  Acoma  for  more  than  twenty  years,  loved  by  the 
natives  as  a  father,  and  teaching  his  swarthy  con 
verts  so  successfully  that  in  time  many  knew  their 
catechism,  and  could  read  and  write  in  Spanish. 
Besides,  under  his  direction  they  built  a  large 
church  with  enormous  labor.  When  he  died,  in 
1664,  tne  Acomas  from  being  the  fiercest  Indians 
had  become  the  gentlest  in  New  Mexico,  and  were 
among  the  furthest  advanced  in  civilization.  But  a 
few  years  after  his  death  came  the  uprising  of  all 
the  Pueblos ;  and  in  the  long  and  disastrous  wars 
which  followed  the  church  was  destroyed,  and 
the  fruits  of  the  brave  Fray's  work  largely  disap 
peared.  In  that  rebellion  Fray  Lucas  Maldonado, 
who  was  then  the  missionary  to  Acoma,  was  butch 
ered  by  his  flock  on  the  roth  or  nth  of  August, 
1680.  In  November,  1692,  Acoma  voluntarily  sur- 


THE  STORMING  OP   THE  SKY-CITY.         143 

rendered  to  the  reconqueror  of  New  Mexico,  Diego 
de  Vargas.  Within  a  few  years,  however,  it  rebelled 
again ;  and  in  August,  1696,  Vargas  marched  against 
it,  but  was  unable  to  storm  the  rock.  But  by  de 
grees  the  Pueblos  grew  to  lasting  peace  with  the 
humane  conquerors,  and  to  merit  the  kindness 
which  was  steadily  proffered  them.  The  mis 
sion  at  Acoma  was  re-established  about  the  year 
1 700  ;  and  there  stands  to-day  a  huge  church  which 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  world,  by  rea 
son  of  the  infinite  labor  and  patience  which  built  it. 
The  last  attempt  at  a  Pueblo  uprising  was  in  1728 ; 
but  Acoma  was  not  implicated  in  it  at  all. 

The  strange  stone  stairway  by  which  Fray  Juan 
Ramirez  climbed  first  to  his  dangerous  parish  in  the 
teeth  of  a  storm  of  arrows,  is  used  by  the  people  of 
Acoma  to  this  day,  and  is  still  called  by  them  el 
camino  del  padre  (the  path  of  the  Father) . 


144 


THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


V. 

THE   SOLDIER   POET. 

BUT  now  to  go  back  a  little.  The  young  officer 
who  made  that  superb  leap  across  the  chasm 
at  Acoma,  pushed  back  the  bridge -log,  and  so  saved 
the  lives  of  his  comrades,  and  indirectly  of  ail  the 
Spanish  in  New  Mexico,  was  Captain  Caspar  Perez 
de  Villagran.1  He  was  highly  educated,  being  a 
graduate  of  a  Spanish  university ;  young,  ambitious, 
fearless,  and  athletic ;  a  hero  among  the  heroes  of 
the  New  World,  and  a  chronicler  to  whom  we  are 
greatly  indebted.  The  six  extant  copies  of  the  fat 
little  parchment-bound  book  of  his  historical  poem, 
in  thirty- four  heroic  cantos,  are  each  worth  many 
times  their  weight  in  gold.  It  is  a  great  pity  that 
we  could  not  have  had  a  Villagran  for  each  of  the 
campaigns  of  the  pioneers  of  America,  to  tell  us 
more  of  the  details  of  those  superhuman  dangers 
and  hardships,  —  for  most  of  the  chroniclers  of  that 
day  treat  such  episodes  as  briefly  as  we  would  a  trip 
from  New  York  to  Brooklyn. 

The  leaping  of  the  chasm  was  not  Captain  Villa- 
gran's  only  connection  with  the  bloody  doings  at 
Acoma  in  the  winter  of  1598-99.     He  came  very 
1  Pronounced  Veel-yah-grahn. 


THE  SOLDIER  POET. 


'45 


near  being  a  victim  of  the  first  massacre,  in  which 
Juan  de  Zaldivar  and  his  men  perished,  and  escaped 
that  fate  only  to  suffer  hardships  as  fearful  as  death. 
In  the  fall  of  1598  four  soldiers  deserted  Onate's 
little  army  at  San  Gabriel ;  and  the  governor  sent 
Villagran,  with  three  or  four  soldiers,  to  arrest  them. 
It  is  hard  to  say  what  a  sheriff  nowadays  would  think 
if  called  upon  to  follow  four  desperadoes  nearly  a 
thousand  miles  across  such  a  desert,  and  with  a 
posse  so  small.  But  Captain  Villagran  kept  the 
trail  of  the  deserters ;  and  after  a  pursuit  of  at  least 
nine  hundred  miles,  overtook  them  in  southern 
Chihuahua,  Mexico.  The  deserters  made  a  fierce 
resistance.  Two  were  killed  by  the  officers,  and  two 
escaped.  Villagran  left  his  little  posse  there,  and 
retraced  his  dangerous  nine  hundred  miles  alone. 
Arriving  at  the  pueblo  of  Puaray,  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  opposite  Bernalillo,  he  learned 
that  his  commander  Onate  had  just  marched  west, 
on  the  perilous  trip  to  Moqui,  of  which  you  have 
already  heard.  Villagran  at  once  turned  westward, 
and  started  alone  to  follow  and  overtake  his  country 
men.  The  trail  was  easily  followed,  for  the  Spaniards 
had  the  only  horses  within  what  is  now  the  United 
States ;  but  the  lonely  follower  of  it  was  beset  with 
continual  danger  and  hardship.  He  came  in  sight 
of  Acoma  just  too  late  to  witness  the  massacre  of 
Juan  de  Zaldivar  and  the  fearful  fall  of  the  five 
Spaniards.  The  survivors  had  already  left  the  fatal 
spot ;  and  when  the  natives  saw  a  solitary  Spaniard 
approaching,  they  descended  from  their  rock  citadel 
10 


146  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

to  surround  and  slay  him.  Villagran  had  no  fire 
arms,  nothing  but  his  sword,  dagger,  and  shield. 
Although  he  knew  nothing  of  the  dreadful  events 
which  had  just  occurred,  he  became  suspicious  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  savages  were  hemming 
him  in  ;  and  though  his  horse  was  gaunt  from  its 
long  journey,  he  spurred  it  to  a  gallant  effort, 
and  fought  his  way  through  the  closing  circle  of 
Indians.  He  kept  up  his  flight  until  well  into  the 
night,  making  a  long  circuit  to  avoid  coming  too  near 
the  town,  and  at  last  got  down  exhausted  from  his 
exhausted  horse,  and  laid  himself  on  the  bare  earth 
to  rest.  When  he  awoke  it  was  snowing  hard,  and 
he  was  half  buried  under  the  cold,  white  blanket. 
Remounting,  he  pushed  on  in  the  darkness,  to  get 
as  far  as  possible  from  Acoma  ere  daylight  should 
betray  him.  Suddenly  horse  and  rider  fell  into  a 
deep  pit,  which  the  Indians  had  dug  for  a  trap 
and  covered  with  brush  and  earth.  The  fall  killed 
the  poor  horse,  and  Villagran  himself  was  badly  hurt 
and  stunned.  At  last,  however,  he  managed  to  crawl 
out  of  the  pit,  to  the  great  joy  of  his  faithful  dog, 
who  sat  whining  and  shivering  upon  the  edge.  The 
soldier-poet  speaks  most  touchingly  of  this  dumb 
companion  of  his  long  and  perilous  journey,  and 
evidently  loved  it  with  the  affection  which  only  a 
brave  man  can  give  and  a  faithful  dog  merit. 

Starting  again  on  foot,  Villagran  soon  lost  his 
way  in  that  trackless  wilderness.  For  four  days  and 
four  nights  he  wandered  without  a  morsel  of  food 
or  a  drop  of  water,  —  for  the  snow  had  already  dis- 


THE  SOLDIER  POET.  147 

appeared.  Many  a  man  has  fasted  longer  under 
equal  hardships;  but  only  those  who  have  tasted 
the  thirst  of  the  arid  lands  can  form  the  remotest 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  ninety-six  hours  with 
out  water.  Two  days  of  that  thirst  is  often  fatal  to 
strong  men ;  and  that  Villagran  endured  four  was 
little  short  of  miraculous.  At  last,  fairly  dying  of 
thirst,  with  dry,  swollen  tongue,  hard  and  rough  as  a 
file,  projecting  far  beyond  his  teeth,  he  was  reduced 
to  the  sad  necessity  of  slaying  his  faithful  dog,  which 
he  did  with  tears  of  manly  remorse.  Calling  the 
poor  brute  to  him,  he  dispatched  it  with  his  sword, 
and  greedily  drank  the  warm  blood.  This  gave  him 
strength  to  stagger  on  a  little  farther;  and  just  as 
he  was  sinking  to  the  sand  to  die,  he  spied  a  little 
hollow  in  a  large  rock  ahead.  Crawling  feebly  to 
it,  he  found  to  his  joy  that  a  little  snow-water 
remained  in  the  cavity.  Scattered  about,  were  a 
few  grains  of  corn,  which  seemed  a  godsend ;  and 
he  devoured  them  ravenously. 

He  had  now  given  up  all  hope  of  overtaking  his 
commander,  and  decided  to  turn  back  and  try  to 
walk  that  grim  two  hundred  miles  to  San  Gabriel. 
But  he  was  too  far  gone  for  the  body  longer  to  obey 
the  heroic  soul,  and  would  have  perished  miserably 
by  the  little  rock  tank  but  for  a  strange  chance. 

As  he  lay  there,  faint  and  helpless,  he  suddenly 
heard  voices  approaching.  He  concluded  that  the 
Indians  had  trailed  him,  and  gave  himself  up  for 
lost,  for  he  was  too  weak  to  fight.  But  at  last  his 
ear  caught  the  accent  of  Spain ;  and  though  it  was 


148  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

spoken  by  hoarse,  rough  soldiers,  you  may  be  sure 
he  thought  it  the  sweetest  sound  in  all  the  world. 
It  chanced  that  the  night  before,  some  of  the  horses 
of  Onate's  camp  had  strayed  away,  and  a  small  squad 
of  soldiers  was  sent  out  to  catch  them.  In  following 
the  trail  of  the  runaways,  they  came  in  sight  of  Cap 
tain  Villagran.  Luckily  they  saw  him,  for  he  could 
no  longer  shout  nor  run  after  them.  Tenderly  they 
lifted  up  the  wounded  officer  and  bore  him  back  to 
camp  ;  and  there,  under  the  gentle  nursing  of  bearded 
men,  he  slowly  recovered  strength,  and  in  time  be 
came  again  the  daring  athlete  of  other  days.  He 
accompanied  Ofiate  on  that  long,  desert  march  ;  and 
a  few  months  later  was  at  the  storming  of  Acoma, 
and  performed  the  astounding  feat  which  ranks  as 
one  of  the  remarkable  individual  heroisms  of  the 
New  World, 


THE  PIONEER  MISSIONARIES.  149 


VI. 

THE   PIONEER   MISSIONARIES. 

TO  pretend  to  tell  the  story  of  the  Spanish  pio 
neering  oif  the  Americas  without  special  atten 
tion  to  the  missionary  pioneers,  would  be  very  poor 
justice  and  very  poor  history.  In  this,  even  more 
than  in  other  qualities,  the  conquest  was  unique. 
The  Spaniard  not  only  found  and  conquered,  but 
converted.  His  religious  earnestness  was  not  a 
whit  behind  his  bravery.  As  has  been  true  of  all 
nations  that  have  entered  new  lands,  —  and  as  we 
ourselves  later  entered  this,  —  his  first  step  had  to 
be  to  subdue  the  savages  who  opposed  him.  But 
as  soon  as  he  had  whipped  these  fierce  grown- 
children,  he  began  to  treat  them  with  a  great  and 
noble  mercy,  —  a  mercy  none  too  common  even  now, 
and  in  that  cruel  time  of  the  whole  world  almost 
unheard  of.  He  never  robbed  the  brown  first 
Americans  of  their  homes,  nor  drove  them  on  and 
on  before  him ;  on  the  contrary,  he  protected  and 
secured  to  them  by  special  laws  the  undisturbed 
possession  of  their  lands  for  all  time.  It  is  due  to 
the  generous  and  manly  laws'  made  by  Spain  three 
hundred  years  ago,  that  our  most  interesting  and 
advanced  Indians,  the  Pueblos,  enjoy  to-day  full 


150  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS, 

security  in  their  lands ;  while  nearly  all  others  (who 
never  came  fully  under  Spanish  dominion)  have 
been  time  after  time  ousted  from  lands  our  govern 
ment  had  solemnly  given  to  them. 

That  was  the  beauty  of  an  Indian  policy  which 
was  ruled,  not  by  politics,  but  by  the  unvarying  prin 
ciple  of  humanity.  The  Indian  was  first  required 
to  be  obedient  to  his  new  government.  He  could 
not  learn  obedience  in  everything  all  at  once ;  but 
he  must  at  least  refrain  from  butchering  his  new 
neighbors.  As  soon  as  he  learned  that  lesson,  he 
was  insured  protection  in  his  rights  of  home  and 
family  and  property.  Then,  as  rapidly  as  such  a 
vast  work  could  be  done  by  an  army  of  missionaries 
who  devoted  their  lives  to  the  dangerous  task,  he 
was  educated  to  citizenship  and  Christianity.  It  is 
almost  impossible  for  us,  in  these  quiet  days,  to 
comprehend  what  it  was  to  convert  a  savage  half- 
world.  In  our  part  of  North  America  there  have 
never  been  such  hopeless  tribes  as  the  Spaniards 
met  in  Mexico  and  other  southern  lands.  Never 
did  any  other  people  anywhere  complete  such  a 
stupendous  missionary  work.  To  begin  to  under 
stand  the  difficulties  of  that  conversion,  we  must 
look  into  an  appalling  page  of  history. 

Most  Indians  and  savage  peoples  have  religions  as 
unlike  ours  as  are  their  social  organizations.  There 
are  few  tribes  that  dream  of  one  Supreme  Being. 
Most  of  them  worship  many  gods,  —  "gods"  whose 
attributes  are  very  like  those  of  the  worshipper; 
"  gods  "  as  ignorant  and  cruel  and  treacherous  as  he. 


THE  PIONEER  MISSIONARIES.  151 

It  is  a  ghastly  thing  to  study  these  religions,  and  to 
see  what  dark  and  revolting  qualities  ignorance  can 
deify.  The  merciless  gods  of  India,  who  are  sup 
posed  to  delight  in  the  crushing  of  thousands  under 
the  wheels  of  Juggernaut,  and  in  the  sacrificing  of 
babes  to  the  Ganges,  and  in  the  burning  alive  of  girl- 
widows,  are  fair  examples  of  what  the  benighted  can 
believe  ;  and  the  horrors  of  India  were  fully  paralleled 
in  America.  The  religions  of  our  North  American 
Indians  had  many  astounding  and  dreadful  features  ; 
but  they  were  mild  and  civilized  compared  with  the 
hideous  rites  of  Mexico  and  the  southern  lands.  To 
understand  something  of  what  the  Spanish  mission 
aries  had  to  combat  throughout  America,  aside  from 
the  common  danger,  let  us  glance  at  the  condition 
of  affairs  in  Mexico  at  their  coming. 

The  Nahuatl,  or  Aztecs,  and  similar  Indian  tribes 
of  ancient  Mexico,  had  the  general  pagan  creed  of 
all  American  Indians,  with  added  horrors  of  their 
own.  They  were  in  constant  blind  dread  of  their 
innumerable  savage  gods,  —  for  to  them  everything 
they  could  not  see  and  understand,  and  nearly  every 
thing  they  could,  was  a  divinity.  But  they  could  not 
conceive  of  any  such  divinity  as  one  they  could  love  ; 
it  was  always  something  to  be  afraid  of,  and  mor 
tally  afraid  of.  Their  whole  attitude  of  life  was  one 
of  dodging  the  cruel  blows  of  an  unseen  hand ;  of 
placating  some  fierce  god  who  could  not  love,  but 
might  be  bribed  not  to  destroy.  They  could  not 
conceive  a  real  creation,  nor  that  anything  could  be 
without  father  and  mother :  stones  and  stars  and 


152  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

winds  and  gods  had  to  be  born  the  same  as  men. 
Their  "heaven,"  if  they  could  have  understood  such 
a  word,  was  crowded  with  gods,  each  as  individual 
and  personal  as  we,  with  greater  powers  than  we,  but 
with  much  the  same  weaknesses  and  passions  and 
sins.  In  fact,  they  had  invented  and  arranged  gods  by 
their  own  savage  standards,  giving  them  the  powers 
they  themselves  most  desired,  but  unable  to  attribute 
virtues  they  could  not  understand.  So,  too,  in  judg 
ing  what  would  please  these  gods,  they  went  by  what 
would  please  themselves.  To  have  bloody  ven 
geance  on  their  enemies  ;  to  rob  and  slay,  or  be  paid 
tribute  for  not  robbing  and  slaying;  to  be  richly 
dressed  and  well  fed,  —  these,  and  other  like  things 
which  seemed  to  them  the  highest  personal  ambi 
tions,  they  thought  must  be  likewise  pleasing  to 
"  those  above."  So  they  spent  most  of  their  time 
and  anxiety  in  buying  off  these  strange  gods,  who 
were  even  more  dreaded  than  savage  neighbors. 

Their  ideas  of  a  god  were  graphically  expressed 
in  the  great  stone  idols  of  which  Mexico  was  once 
full,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved  in  the  muse 
ums.  They  are  often  of  heroic  size,  and  are  carved 
from  the  hardest  stone  with  great  painstaking,  but 
their  faces  and  figures  are  indescribably  dreadful. 
Such  an  idol  as  that  of  the  grim  Huitzilopochtli  was 
as  horrible  a  thing  as  human  ingenuity  ever  invented, 
and  the  same  grotesque  hideousness  runs  through  all 
the  long  list  of  Mexican  idols. 

These  idols  were  attended  with  the  most  servile 
care,  and  dressed  in  the  richest  ornaments  known  to 


THE   PIONEER  MISSIONARIES.  153 

Indian  wealth.  Great  strings  of  turquoise,  —  the 
most  precious  "  gem  "  of  the  American  aborigines,  — 
and  really  precious  mantles  of  the  brilliant  feathers 
of  tropic  birds,  and  gorgeous  shells  were  hung  lav 
ishly  upon  those  great  stone  nightmares.  Thousands 
of  men  devoted  their  lives  to  the  tending  of  the 
dumb  deities,  and  humbled  and  tortured  themselves 
unspeakably  to  please  them. 

But  gifts  and  care  were  not  enough.  Treachery 
to  his  friends  was  still  to  be  feared  from  such  a  god. 
He  must  still  further  be  bought  off;  everything  that 
to  an  Indian  seemed  valuable  was  proffered  to  the 
Indian's  god,  to  keep  him  in  good  humor.  And 
since  human  life  was  the  most  precious  thing  an 
Indian  could  understand,  it  became  his  most  im 
portant  and  finally  his  most  frequent  offering.  To 
the  Indian  it  seemed  no  crime  to  take  a  life  to 
please  a  god.  He  had  no  idea  of  retribution  after 
death,  and  he  came  to  look  upon  human  sacrifice 
as  a  legitimate,  moral,  and  even  divine  institution. 
In  time,  such  sacrifices  became  of  almost  daily  oc 
currence  at  each  of  the  numberless  temples.  It  was 
the  most  valued  form  of  worship ;  so  great  was  its 
importance  that  the  officials  or  priests  had  to  go 
through  a  more  onerous  training  than  does  any  min 
ister  of  a  Christian  faith.  They  could  reach  their 
position  only  by  pledging  and  keeping  up  unceasing 
and  awful  self- deprivation  and  self- mutilation. 

Human  lives  were  offered  not  only  to  one  or  two 
principal  idols  of  each  community,  but  each  town 
had  also  many  minor  fetiches  to  which  such  sacri- 


154  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

fices  were  made  on  stated  occasions.  So  fixed  was 
the  custom  of  sacrifice,  and  so  proper  was  it  deemed, 
that  when  Cortez  came  to  Cempohual  the  natives 
could  think  of  no  other  way  to  welcome  him  with 
sufficient  honor,  and  in  perfect  cordiality  proposed 
to  offer  up  human  sacrifices  to  him.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  Cortez  sternly  declined  this 
pledge  of  hospitality. 

These  rites  were  mostly  performed  on  the  teocallis, 
or  sacrificial  mounds,  of  which  there  were  one  or 
more  in  every  Indian  town.  These  were  huge  arti 
ficial  mounds  of  earth,  built  in  the  shape  of  trun 
cated  pyramids,  and  faced  all  over  with  stone.  They 
were  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  some 
times  many  hundreds  of  feet  square  at  the  base. 
Upon  the  flat  top  of  the  pyramid  stood  a  small 
tower,  —  the  dingy  chapel  which  enclosed  the  idol. 
The  grotesque  face  of  the  stone  deity  looked  down 
upon  a  cylindrical  stone  which  had  a  bowl-like  cav 
ity  in  the  top,  —  the  altar,  or  sacrificial  stone.  This 
was  generally  carved  also,  and  sometimes  with  re 
markable  skill  and  detail.  The  famous  so-called 
" Aztec  Calendar  Stone"  in  the  National  Museum 
of  Mexico,  which  once  gave  rise  to  so  many  wild 
speculations,  is  merely  one  of  these  sacrificial  altars, 
dating  from  before  Columbus.  It  is  a  wonderful 
piece  of  Indian  stone-carving. 

The  idol,  the  inner  walls  of  the  temple,  the  floor, 
the  altar,  were  always  wet  with  the  most  precious 
fluid  on  earth.  In  the  bowl  human  hearts  smoul 
dered.  Black-robed  wizards,  their  faces  painted 


THE  PIONEER  MISSIONARIES.  155 

black  with  white  rings  about  eyes  and  mouth,  theii 
hair  matted  with  blood,  their  faces  raw  from  con 
stant  self-torture,  forever  flitted  to  and  fro,  keeping 
watch  by  night  and  day,  ready  always  for  the  vic 
tims  whom  that  dreadful  superstition  was  always 
ready  to  bring.  The  supply  of  victims  was  drawn 
from  prisoners  taken  in  war,  and  from  slaves  paid 
as  tribute  by  conquered  tribes ;  and  it  took  a  vast 
supply.  Sometimes  as  many  as  five  hundred  were 
sacrificed  on  one  altar  on  one  great  day.  They 
were  stretched  naked  upon  the  sacrificial  stone,  and 
butchered  in  a  manner  too  horrible  to  be  described 
here.  Their  palpitating  hearts  were  offered  to  the 
idol,  and  then  thrown  into  the  great  stone  bowl ;  while 
the  bodies  were  kicked  down  the  long  stone  stair 
way  to  the  bottom  of  the  great  mound,  where  they 
were  seized  upon  by  the  eager  crowd.  The  Mexi 
cans  were  not  cannibals  regularly  and  as  a  matter 
of  taste  ;  but  they  devoured  these  bodies  as  part  of 
their  grim  religion. 

It  is  too  revolting  to  go  more  into  detail  concern 
ing  these  rites.  Enough  has  been  said  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  moral  barrier  encountered  by  the  Span 
ish  missionaries  when  they  came  to  such  blood 
thirsty  savages  with  a  gospel  which  teaches  love  and 
the  universal  brotherhood  of  man.  Such  a  creed 
was  as  unintelligible  to  the  Indian  as  white  black 
ness  would  be  to  us ;  and  the  struggle  to  make  him 
understand  was  one  of  the  most  enormous  and  ap 
parently  hopeless  ever  undertaken  by  human  teach 
ers.  Before  the  missionaries  could  make  these 


156  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

savages  even  listen  to — much  less  understand — 
Christianity,  they  had  the  dangerous  task  of  prov 
ing  this  paganism  worthless.  The  Indian  believed 
absolutely  in  the  power  of  his  gory  stone-god.  If 
he  should  neglect  his  idol,  he  felt  sure  the  idol 
would  punish  and  destroy  him;  and  of  course  he 
would  not  believe  anything  that  could  be  told  him 
to  the  contrary.  The  missionary  had  not  only  to  say, 
"  Your  idol  is  worthless ;  he  cannot  hurt  anybody ; 
he  is  only  a  stone,  and  if  you  kick  him  he  cannot 
punish  you,"  but  he  had  to  prove  it.  No  Indian  was 
going  to  be  so  foolhardy  as  to  try  the  experiment, 
and  the  new  teacher  had  to  do  it  in  person.  Of  course 
he  could  not  even  do  that  at  first ;  for  if  he  had 
begun  his  missionary  work  by  offering  any  indignity 
to  one  of  those  ugly  gods  of  porphyry,  its  "  priests  " 
would  have  slain  him  on  the  spot.  But  when  the 
Indians  saw  at  last  that  the  missionary  was  not 
struck  down  by  some  supernatural  power  for  speak 
ing  against  their  gods,  there  was  one  step  gained. 
By  degrees  he  could  touch  the  idol,  and  they  saw 
that  he  was  still  unharmed.  At  last  he  overturned 
and  broke  the  cruel  images ;  and  the  breathless  and 
terrified  worshippers  began  to  distrust  and  despise 
the  cowardly  divinities  they  had  played  the  slave  to, 
but  whom  a  stranger  could  insult  and  abuse  with 
impunity.  It  was  only  by  this  rude  logic,  which  the 
debased  savages  could  understand,  that  the  Span 
ish  missionaries  proved  to  the  Indians  that  human 
sacrifice  was  a  human  mistake  and  not  the  will  of 
"Those  Above."  It  was  a  wonderful  achievement, 


THE  PIONEER  MISSIONARIES.  157 

just  the  uprooting  of  this  one,  but  worst,  custom  of 
the  Indian  religion,  —  a  custom  strengthened  by  cen 
turies  of  constant  practice.  But  the  Spanish  apostles 
were  equal  to  the  task ;  and  the  infinite  faith  and 
zeal  and  patience  which  finally  abolished  human  sac 
rifice  in  Mexico,  led  gradually  on,  step  by  step,  to 
the  final  conversion  of  a  continent  and  a  half  of 
savages  to  Christianity. 


158  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


VII. 

THE    CHURCH-BUILDERS    IN    NEW 
MEXICO. 

/nn*O  give  even  a  skeleton  of  Spanish  missionary 
±  work  in  the  two  Americas  would  fill  several 
volumes.  The  most  that  can  be  done  here  is  to 
take  a  sample  leaf  from  that  fascinating  but  formid 
able  record ;  and  for  that  I  shall  outline  something 
of  what  was  done  in  an  area  particularly  interesting 
to  us,  —  the  single  province  of  New  Mexico.  There 
were  many  fields  which  presented  even  greater 
obstacles,  and  cost  more  lives  of  uncomplaining 
martyrs  and  more  generations  of  discouraging  toil ; 
but  it  is  safe  to  take  a  modest  example,  as  well  as 
one  which  so  much  concerns  our  own  national 
history. 

New  Mexico  and  Arizona  —  the  real  wonderland 
of  the  United  States  —  were  discovered  in  1539,  as 
you  know,  by  that  Spanish  missionary  whom  every 
young  American  should  remember  with  honor, — 
Fray  Marcos,  of  Nizza.  You  have  had  glimpses, 
too,  of  the  achievements  of  Fray  Ramirez,  Fray 
Padilla,  and  other  missionaries  in  that  forbidding 
land,  and  have  gained  some  idea  of  the  hardships 
which  were  common  to  all  their  brethren ;  for  the 


THE  CHURCH-BUILDERS.  159 

wonderful  journeys,  the  lonely  self-sacrifice,  the 
gentle  zeal,  and  too  often  the  cruel  deaths  of  these 
men  were  not  exceptions,  but  fair  types  of  what 
the  apostle  to  the  Southwest  must  expect. 

There  have  been  missionaries  elsewhere  whose 
flocks  were  as  long  ungrateful  and  murderous,  but 
few  if  any  who  were  more  out  of  the  world.  New 
Mexico  has  been  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
and  is  to-day,  largely  a  wilderness,  threaded  with  a 
few  slender  oases.  To  people  of  the  Eastern  States 
a  desert  seems  very  far  off;  but  there  are  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  square  miles  in  our  own  Southwest 
to  this  day  where  the  traveller  is  very  likely  to  die  of 
thirst,  and  where  poor  wretches  every  year  do  perish 
by  that  most  awful  of  deaths.  Even  now  there  is 
no  trouble  in  finding  hardship  and  danger  in  New 
Mexico ;  and  once  it  was  one  of  the  cruellest  wil 
dernesses  conceivable.  Scarce  a  decade  has  gone 
by  since  an  end  was  put  to  the  Indian  wars  and 
harassments,  which  had  lasted  continuously  for 
more  than  three  centuries.  When  Spanish  colonist 
or  Spanish  missionary  turned  his  back  on  Old  Mex 
ico  to  traverse  the  thousand-mile,  roadless  desert  to 
New  Mexico,  he  took  his  life  in  his  hands ;  and 
every  day  in  that  savage  province  he  was  in  equal 
danger.  If  he  escaped  death  by  thirst  or  starvation 
by  the  way,  if  the  party  was  not  wiped  out  by  the 
merciless  Apache,  then  he  settled  in  the  wilderness 
as  far  from  any  other  home  of  white  men  as  Chicago 
is  from  Boston.  If  a  missionary,  he  was  generally 
alone  with  a  flock  of  hundreds  of  cruel  savages; 


160  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

if  a  soldier  or  a  farmer,  he  had  from  two  hundred 
to  fifteen  hundred  friends  in  an  area  as  big  as  New 
England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio  com 
bined,  in  the  very  midst  of  a  hundred  thousand 
swarthy  foes  whose  war-whoop  he  was  likely  to  hear 
at  any  moment,  and  never  had  long  chance  to  for 
get.  He  came  poor,  and  that  niggard  land  never 
made  him  rich.  Even  in  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  when  some  began  to  have  large  flocks 
of  sheep,  they  were  often  left  penniless  by  one 
night's  raid  of  Apaches  or  Navajos. 

Such  was  New  Mexico  when  the  missionaries 
came,  and  very  nearly  such  it  remained  for  more 
than  three  hundred  years.  If  the  most  enlightened 
and  hopeful  mind  in  the  Old  World  could  have 
looked  across  to  that  arid  land,  it  would  never  have 
dreamed  that  soon  the  desert  was  to  be  dotted  with 
churches,  —  and  not  little  log  or  mud  chapels,  but 
massive  stone  masonries  whose  ruins  stand  to-day, 
the  noblest  in  our  North  America.  But  so  it  was ; 
neither  wilderness  nor  savage  could  balk  that  great 
zeal. 

The  first  church  in  what  is  now  the  United  States 
was  founded  in  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  by  Fray  Fran 
cisco  de  Pareja  in  1560,  —  but  there  were  many 
Spanish  churches  in  America  a  half  century  earlier 
yet.  The  several  priests  whom  Coronado  brought 
to  New  Mexico  in  1540  did  brave  missionary 
work,  but  were  soon  killed  by  the  Indians.  The 
first  church  in  New  Mexico  and  the  second  in 
the  United  States  was  founded  in  September, 


THE   CHURCH-BUILDERS.  161 

1598,  by  the  ten  missionaries  who  accompanied 
Juan  de  Onate,  the  colonizer.  It  was  a  small  chapel 
at  San  Gabriel  de  los  Espanoles  (now  Chamita) . 
San  Gabriel  was  deserted  in  1605,  when  Onate 
founded  Santa  F£,  though  it  is  probable  that  the 
chapel  was  still  occasionally  used.  In  time,  how 
ever,  it  fell  into  decay.  As  late  as  1680  the  ruins  of 
this  honorable  old  church  were  still  visible ;  but  now 
they  are  quite  indistinguishable.  One  of  the  first 
things  after  establishing  the  new  town  of  Santa  Fe 
was  of  course  to  build  a  church,  —  and  here,  by 
about  1606,  was  reared  the  third  church  in  the 
United  States.  It  did  not  long  meet  the  growing 
requirements  of  the  colony;  and  in  1622  Fray 
Alonzo  de  Benavides,  the  historian,  laid  the  founda 
tions  of  the  parish  church  of  Santa  Fe,  which  was 
finished  in  1627.  The  church  of  San  Miguel  in  the 
same  old  city  was  built  after  1636.  Its  original 
walls  are  still  standing,  and  form  part  of  a  church 
which  is  used  to-day.  It  was  partly  destroyed  in 
the  Pueblo  rebellion  of  1680,  and  was  restored  in 
1710.  The  new  cathedral  of  Santa  Fe  is  built 
over  the  remnants  of  the  still  more  ancient  parish 
church. 

In  1617  —  three  years  before  Plymouth  Rock  — 
there  were  already  eleven  churches  in  use  in  New 
Mexico.  Santa  Fe  was  the  only  Spanish  town ;  but 
there  were  also  churches  at  the  dangerous  Indian 
pueblos  of  Galisteo  and  Pecos,  two  at  Jemez 
(nearly  one  hundred  miles  west  of  Santa  F£,  and 
in  an  appalling  wilderness),  Taos  (as  far  north), 


1 62  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

San  Yldefonso,  Santa  Clara,  Sandia,  San  Felipe,  and 
Santo  Domingo.  It  was  a  wonderful  achievement 
for  each  lonely  missionary  —  for  they  had  neither 
civil  nor  military  assistance  in  their  parishes  —  so 
soon  to  have  induced  his  barbarous  flock  to  build 
a  big  stone  church,  and  worship  there  the  new  white 
God.  The  churches  in  the  two  Jemez  pueblos 
had  to  be  abandoned  about  1622  on  account  of 
incessant  harassment  by  the  Navajos,  who  from 
time  immemorial  had  ravaged  that  section,  but 
were  occupied  again  in  1626.  The  Spaniards  were 
confined  by  the  necessities  of  the  desert,  so  far 
as  home-making  went,  to  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  which  runs  about  north  and  south  through 
the  middle  of  New  Mexico.  But  their  missionaries 
were  under  no  such  limitation.  Where  the  colonists 
could  not  exist,  they  could  pray  and  teach ;  and 
very  soon  they  began  to  penetrate  the  deserts  which 
stretch  far  on  either  side  from  that  narrow  ribbon  of 
colonizable  land.  At  Zufii,  far  west  of  the  river  and 
three  hundred  miles  from  Santa  Fe,  the  missionaries 
had  established  themselves  as  early  as  1629.  Soon 
they  had  six  churches  in  six  of  the  "  Seven  Cities  of 
Cibola"  (the  Zufii  towns),  of  which  the  one  at 
Chyanahue  is  still  beautifully  preserved ;  and  in 
the  same  period  they  had  taken  foothold  two  hun 
dred  miles  deeper  yet  in  the  desert,  and  built  three 
churches  among  the  wondrous  cliff-towns  of  Moqui. 
Down  the  Rio  Grande  there  was  similar  activity. 
At  the  ancient  pueblo  of  San  Antonio  de  Senecu, 
aow  nearly  obliterated,  a  church  was  founded  in 


THE  CHURCH-BUILDERS.  163 

1629  by  Fray  Antonio  de  Arteaga;  and  the  same 
brave  man,  in  the  same  year,  founded  another  at  the 
pueblo  of  Nuestra  Senora  del  Socorro,  —  now  the 
American  town  of  Socorro.  The  church  in  the 
pueblo  of  Picuries,  far  in  the  northern  mountains, 
was  built  before  1632,  for  in  that  year  Fray  Ascen- 
cion  de  Zarate  was  buried  in  it.  The  church  at 
Isleta,  about  in  the  centre  of  New  Mexico,  was  built 
before  1635.  A.  few  miles  above  Glorieta,  one  can 
see  from  the  windows  of  a  train  on  the  Santa  F£ 
route  a  large  and  impressive  adobe  ruin,  whose 
fine  walls  dream  away  in  that  enchanted  sunshine. 
It  is  the  old  church  of  the  pueblo  of  Pecos ;  and 
those  walls  were  reared  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  years  ago.  The  pueblo,  once  the  largest  in 
New  Mexico,  was  deserted  in  1340 ;  and  its  great 
quadrangle  of  many-storied  Indian  houses  is  in  utter 
ruin ;  but  above  their  gray  mounds  still  tower  the 
walls  of  the  old  church  which  was  built  before  there 
was  a  Saxon  in  New  England.  You  see  the  "mud 
brick,"  as  some  contemptuously  call  the  adobe,  is 
not  such  a  contemptible  thing,  even  for  braving  the 
storms  of  centuries.  There  was  a  church  at  the 
pueblo  of  Nambe"  by  1642.  In  1662  Fray  Garcia 
de  San  Francisco  founded  a  church  at  El  Paso  del 
Norte,  on  the  present  boundary-line  between  Mexico 
and  the  United  States,  —  a  dangerous  frontier  mis 
sion,  hundreds  of  miles  alike  from  the  Spanish 
settlements  in  Old  and  New  Mexico. 

The  missionaries  also  crossed  the  mountains  east 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  established  missions  among 


1 64  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  Pueblos  who  dwelt  in  the  edge  of  the  great 
plains.  Fray  Geronimo  de  la  Liana  founded  the 
noble  church  at  Cuaray  about  1642  ;  and  soon  after 
came  those  at  Ab6,  Tenabo,  and  Tabira  (better, 
though  incorrectly,  known  now  as  The  Gran  Qui- 
vira).  The  churches  at  Cuaray,  Ab6,  and  Tabira 
are  the  grandest  ruins  in  the  United  States,  and 
much  finer  than  many  ruins  which  Americans  go 
abroad  to  see.  The  second  and  larger  church  at 
Tabira  was  built  between  1660  and  1670;  and  at 
about  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  region  — 
though  many  thirsty  miles  away  —  the  churches  at 
Tajique  l  and  Chilili.  Acoma,  as  you  know,  had  a 
permanent  missionary  by  1629;  and  he  built  a 
church.  Besides  all  these,  the  pueblos  of  Zia,  Santa 
Ana,  Tesuque,  Pojoaque,  San  Juan,  San  Marcos,  San 
Lazaro,  San  Cristobal,  Alameda,  Santa  Cruz,  and 
Cochiti  had  each  a  church  by  1680.  That  shows 
something  of  the  thoroughness  of  Spanish  missionary 
work.  A  century  before  our  nation  was  born,  the 
Spanish  had  built  in  one  of  our  Territories  half  a  hun 
dred  permanent  churches,  nearly  all  of  stone,  and 
nearly  all  for  the  express  benefit  of  the  Indians.  That 
is  a  missionary  record  which  has  never  been  equalled 
elsewhere  in  the  United  States  even  to  this  day  ;  and 
in  all  our  country  we  had  not  built  by  that  time  so 
many  churches  for  ourselves. 

A  glimpse  at  the  life  of  the  missionary  to  New 
Mexico   in  the  days  before  there  was  an  English- 
speaking  preacher  in  the  whole  western  hemisphere 
1  Pronounced  Tah-/$<?<?-ky. 


THE  CHURCH-BUILDERS.  165 

is  strangely  fascinating  to  all  who  love  that  lonely 
heroism  which  does  not  need  applause  or  compan 
ionship  to  keep  it  alive.  To  be  brave  in  battle  or 
any  similar  excitement  is  a  very  easy  thing.  But  to 
be  a  hero  alone  and  unseen,  amid  not  only  danger 
but  every  hardship  and  discouragement,  is  quite 
another  matter. 

The  missionary  to  New  Mexico  had  of  course  to 
come  first  from  Old  Mexico,  —  or,  before  that,  from 
Spain.  Some  of  these  quiet,  gray-robed  men  had 
already  seen  such  wanderings  and  such  dangers  as 
even  the  Stanleys  of  nowadays  do  not  know.  They 
had  to  furnish  their  own  vestments  and  church  furni 
ture,  and  to  pay  for  their  own  transportation  from 
Mexico  to  New  Mexico,  —  for  very  early  a  "  line  "  of 
semi-annual  armed  expeditions  across  the  bitter 
intervening  wilderness  was  arranged.  The  fare 
was  $266,  which  made  serious  havoc  with  the 
good  man's  salary  of  $150  a  year  (at  which  figure 
the  salaries  remained  up  to  1665,  when  they  were 
raised  to  $330,  payable  every  three  years).  It  was 
not  much  like  a  call  to  a  fashionable  pulpit  in  these 
times.  Out  of  this  meagre  pay  —  which  was  all  the 
synod  itself  could  afford  to  give  him  —  he  had  to 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  himself  and  his  church. 

Arriving,  after  a  perilous  trip,  in  perilous  New 
Mexico,  —  and  the  journey  and  the  Territory  were 
still  dangerous  in  the  present  generation,  —  the  mis 
sionary  proceeded  first  to  Santa  Fe.  His  superior 
there  soon  assigned  him  a  parish ;  and  turning  his 
back  on  the  one  little  colony  of  his  countrymen. 


1 66  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  fray  trudged  on  foot  fifty,  one  hundred,  or  three 
hundred  miles,  as  the  case  might  be,  to  his  new  and 
unknown  post.  Sometimes  an  escort  of  three  or 
four  Spanish  soldiers  accompanied  him  ;  but  often  he 
made  that  toilsome  and  perilous  walk  alone.  His 
new  parishioners  received  him  sometimes  with  a 
storm  of  arrows,  and  sometimes  in  sullen  silence.  He 
could  not  speak  to  them,  nor  they  to  him ;  and  the 
very  first  thing  he  had  to  do  was  to  learn  from  such 
unwilling  teachers  their  strange  tongue,  —  a  language 
much  more  difficult  to  acquire  than  Latin,  Greek, 
French,  or  German.  Entirely  alone  among  them, 
he  had  to  depend  upon  himself  and  upon  the  un- 
tender  mercies  of  his  flock  for  life  and  all  its  neces 
sities.  If  they  decided  to  kill  him,  there  was  no 
possibility  of  resistance.  If  they  refused  him  food, 
he  must  starve.  If  he  became  sick  or  crippled,  there 
were  no  nurses  or  doctors  for  him  except  these 
treacherous  savages.  I  do  not  think  there  was  ever 
in  history  a  picture  of  more  absolute  loneliness  and 
helplessness  and  hopelessness  than  the  lives  of  these 
unheard-of  martyrs ;  and  as  for  mere  danger,  no 
man  ever  faced  greater. 

The  provision  made  for  the  support  of  the  mis 
sionaries  was  very  simple.  Besides  the  small  salary 
paid  him  by  the  synod,  the  pastor  must  receive  some 
help  from  his  parish.  This  was  a  moral  as  well  as 
a  material  necessity.  That  interest  partly  depends 
on  personal  giving,  is  a  principle  recognized  in  all 
churches.  So  at  once  the  Spanish  laws  commanded 
from  the  Pueblos  the  same  contribution  to  the 


THE  CHURCH-BUILDERS.  167 

church  as  Moses  himself  established.  Each  Indian 
family  was  required  to  give  the  tithe  and  the  first 
fruits  to  the  church,  just  as  they  had  always  given 
them  to  their  pagan  cacique.  This  was  no  burden  to 
the  Indians,  and  it  supported  the  priest  in  a  very  hum 
ble  way.  Of  course  the  Indians  did  not  give  a  tithe  ; 
at  first  they  gave  just  as  little  as  they  could.  The 
"father's"  food  was  their  corn,  beans,  and  squashes, 
with  only  a  little  meat  rarely  from  their  hunts,  —  for 
it  was  a  long  time  before  there  were  flocks  of  cattle 
or  sheep  to  draw  from.  He  also  depended  on  his 
unreliable  congregation  for  help  in  cultivating  his 
little  plot  of  ground,  for  wood  to  keep  him  from 
freezing  in  those  high  altitudes,  and  even  for  water, 
—  since  there  were  no  waterworks  nor  even  wells, 
and  all  water  had  to  be  brought  considerable  dis 
tances  in  jars.  Dependent  wholly  upon  such  sus 
picious,  jealous,  treacherous  helpers,  the  good  man 
often  suffered  greatly  from  hunger  and  cold.  There 
were  no  stores,  of  course,  and  if  he  could  not  get 
food  from  the  Indians  he  must  starve.  Wood  was 
in  some  cases  twenty  miles  distant,  as  it  is  from 
Isleta  to-day.  His  labors  also  were  not  small.  He 
must  not  only  convert  these  utter  pagans  to  Chris 
tianity,  but  teach  them  to  read  and  write,  to  farm 
by  better  methods,  and,  in  general,  to  give  up  their 
barbarism  for  civilization. 

How  difficult  it  was  to  do  this  even  the  statesman 
of  to-day  can  hardly  measure  ;  but  what  was  the  price 
in  blood  is  simple  to  be  understood.  It  was  not  the 
killing  now  and  then  of  one  of  these  noble  men  by 


1 68  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

his  ungrateful  flock,  —  it  was  almost  a  habit.  It 
was  not  the  sin  of  one  or  two  towns.  The  pueblos 
of  Taos,  Picuries,  San  Yldefonso,  Nambe",  Pojoaque, 
Tesuque,  Pecos,  Galisteo,  San  Marcos,  Santo  Do 
mingo,  Cochiti,  San  Felipe,  Puaray,  Jemez,  Acoma, 
Halona,  Hauicu,  Ahuatui,  Mishongenivi,  and  Oraibe 
—  twenty  different  towns  —  at  one  time  or  another 
murdered  their  respective  missionaries.  Some  towns 
repeated  the  crime  several  times.  Up  to  the  year 
1 700,  forty  of  these  quiet  heroes  in  gray  had  been 
slain  by  the  Indians  in  New  Mexico,  —  two  by  the 
Apaches,  but  all  the  rest  by  their  own  flocks.  Of 
these,  one  was  poisoned ;  the  others  died  bloody  and 
awful  deaths.  Even  in  the  last  century  several  mis 
sionaries  were  killed  by  secret  poison,  —  an  evil  art 
in  which  the  Indians  were  and  are  remarkably  adept ; 
and  when  the  missionary  had  been  killed,  the  Indians 
burned  the  church. 

One  very  important  feature  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of.  Not  only  did  these  Spanish  teachers  achieve  a 
missionary  work  unparalleled  elsewhere  by  others, 
but  they  made  a  wonderful  mark  on  the  world's 
knowledge.  Among  them  were  some  of  the  most 
important  historians  America  has  had ;  and  they 
were  among  the  foremost  scholars  in  every  intel 
lectual  line,  particularly  in  the  study  of  languages. 
They  were  not  merely  chroniclers,  but  students  of 
native  antiquities,  arts,  and  customs,  —  such  histo 
rians,  in  fact,  as  are  paralleled  only  by  those  great 
classic  writers,  Herodotus  and  Strabo.  In  the  long 
and  eminent  list  of  Spanish  missionary  authors 


THE  CHURCH-BUILDERS.  169 

were  such  men  as  Torquemada,  Sahagun,  Motolinia, 
Mendieta,  and  many  others  ;  and  their  huge  vol 
umes  are  among  the  greatest  and  most  indispensa 
ble  helps  we  have  to  a  study  of  the  real  history 
of  America. 


170  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


VIII. 

ALVARADO'S   LEAP. 

IF  the  reader  should  ever  go  to  the  City  of  Mexico, 
—  as  I  hope  he  may,  for  that  ancient  town,  which 
was  old  and  populous  when  Columbus  was  born,  is 
alive  with  romantic  interest,  —  he  will  have  pointed 
out  to  him,  on  the  Rivera  de  San  Cosme,  the  historic 
spot  still  known  as  El  Salto  de  Alvarado.  It  is  now 
a  broad,  civilized  street,  with  horse-cars  running, 
with  handsome  buildings,  with  quaint,  contented  folk 
sauntering  to  and  fro,  and  with  little  outwardly  to 
recall  the  terrors  of  that  cruellest  night  in  the  history 
of  America,  —  the  Noche  Triste. 

The  leap  of  Alvarado  is  among  the  famous  deeds 
in  history,  and  the  leaper  was  a  striking  figure  in 
the  pioneering  of  the  New  World.  In  the  first  great 
conquest  he  bore  himself  gallantly,  and  the  story 
of  his  exploits  then  and  thereafter  would  make  a 
fascinating  romance.  A  tall,  handsome  man,  with 
yellow  locks  and  ruddy  face,  young,  impulsive,  and 
generous,  a  brilliant  soldier  and  charming  comrade, 
he  was  a  general  favorite  with  Spaniard  and  Indian 
alike.  Though  for  some  reason  not  fully  liked  by 
Cortez,  he  was  the  conqueror's  right-hand  man,  and 
throughout  the  conquest  of  Mexico  had  generally 


ALVAR ADO'S  LEAP.  171 

the  post  of  greatest  danger.  He  was  a  college  man, 
and  wrote  a  large,  bold  hand,  —  none  too  common 
an  accomplishment  in  those  days,  you  will  remem 
ber,  —  and  signed  a  beautiful  autograph.  He  was 
not  a  great  leader  of  men  like  Cortez,  —  his  valor 
sometimes  ran  away  with  his  prudence ;  but  as 
a  field-officer  he  was  as  dashing  and  brilliant  as 
could  be  found. 

Captain  Pedro  de  Alvarado  was  a  native  of  Seville, 
and  came  to  the  New  World  in  his  young  manhood, 
soon  winning  some  recognition  in  Cuba.  In  1518 
he  accompanied  Grijalva  in  the  voyage  which  dis 
covered  Mexico,  and  carried  back  to  Cuba  the  few 
treasures  they  had  collected.  In  the  following  year, 
when  Cortez  sailed  to  the  conquest  of  the  new  and 
wonderful  land,  Alvarado  accompanied  him  as  his 
lieutenant.  In  all  the  startling  feats  of  that  romantic 
career  he  played  a  conspicuous  part.  In  the  crisis 
when  it  became  necessary  to  seize  the  treacherous 
Moctezuma,  Alvarado  was  active  and  prominent. 
He  had  much  to  do  with  Moctezuma  during  the 
latter's  detention  as  a  hostage ;  and  his  frankness 
made  him  a  great  favorite  with  the  captive  war- 
chief.  He  was  left  in  command  of  the  little  gar 
rison  at  Mexico  when  Cortez  marched  off  on  his 
audacious  but  successful  expedition  against  Narvaez, 
and  discharged  that  responsible  duty  well.  Before 
Cortez  got  back,  came  the  symptoms  of  an  Indian 
uprising,  —  the  famous  war-dance.  Alvarado  was 
alone,  and  had  to  meet  the  crisis  on  his  own  respon 
sibility.  But  he  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  He 


I  72  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

understood  the  murderous  meaning  of  this  "  ghost- 
dance,"  as  every  Indian-fighter  does,  and  the  way 
to  meet  it.  In  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  capture 
the  wizards  who  were  stirring  up  the  populace 
to  massacre  the  strangers,  Alvarado  was  severely 
wounded.  But  he  bore  his  part  in  the  desperate 
resistance  to  the  Indian  assaults,  in  which  nearly 
every  Spaniard  was  wounded.  In  the  great  fighting 
to  hold  their  adobe  stronghold,  and  the  wild  sorties 
to  force  back  the  flood  of  savages,  the  golden-haired 
lieutenant  was  always  a  prominent  figure.  When 
Cortez,  who  had  now  returned  with  his  reinforce 
ments,  saw  that  Mexico  was  untenable  and  that  their 
only  salvation  was  in  retreat  from  the  lake  city  to 
the  mainland,  the  post  of  honor  fell  to  Alvarado. 
There  were  twelve  hundred  Spaniards  and  two 
thousand  Tlaxcaltecan  allies,  and  this  force  was  di 
vided  into  three  commands.  The  vanguard  was  led 
by  Juan  Velasquez,  the  second  division  by  Cortez, 
the  third,  upon  which  it  was  expected  the  brunt  of 
pursuit  would  fall,  by  Alvarado. 

All  was  quiet  when  the  Spaniards  crept  from  their 
refuge  to  try  to  escape  along  the  dyke. 

It  was  a  rainy  night,  and  intensely  dark;  and 
with  their  horses'  hoofs  and  little  cannon  muffled, 
the  Spaniards  moved  as  quietly  as  possible  along  the 
narrow  bank,  which  stretched  like  a  tongue  from  the 
island  city  to  the  mainland. 

This  dyke  was  cut  by  three  broad  sluices,  and  to 
cross  them  the  soldiers  carried  a  portable  bridge. 
But  despite  their  care  the  savages  promptly  detected 


ALVARAD&S  LEAP.  173 

the  movement.  Scarcely  had  they  issued  from  their 
barracks  and  got  upon  the  dyke,  when  the  boom  of 
the  monster  war-drum,  tlapan  huehuetl,  from  the 
summit  of  the  pyramid  of  sacrifice,  burst  upon  the 
still  night,  —  the  knell  of  their  hopes.  It  is  an  awe 
some  sound  still,  the  deep  bellowing  of  that  great 
three-legged  drum,  which  is  used  to-day,  and  can 
be  heard  more  than  fifteen  miles ;  and  to  the  Span 
iards  it  was  the  voice  of  doom.  Great  bonfires  shot 
up  from  the  teocalli,  and  they  could  see  the  savages 
swarming  to  overwhelm  them. 

Hurrying  as  fast  as  their  wounds  and  burdens 
would  permit,  the  Spaniards  reached  the  first  sluice 
in  safety.  They  threw  their  bridge  over  the  gulf, 
and  began  crossing.  Then  the  Indians  came  swarm 
ing  in  their  canoes  at  either  side  of  the  dyke,  and 
attacked  with  characteristic  ferocity.  The  beset  sol 
diers  fought  as  they  struggled  on.  But  as  the  artil 
lery  was  crossing  the  bridge  it  broke,  and  down  went 
cannon,  horses,  and  men  forever.  Then  began  the 
indescribable  horrors  of  "The  Sad  Night."  There 
was  no  retreat  for  the  Spaniards,  for  they  were  as 
sailed  on  every  side.  Those  behind  were  pushing  on, 
and  there  was  no  staying  even  for  that  gap  of  black 
water.  Over  the  brink  man  and  horse  were  crowded 
in  the  darkness,  and  still  those  behind  came  on,  until 
at  last  the  channel  was  choked  with  corpses,  and  the 
survivors  floundered  across  the  chaos  of  their  dead. 
Velasquez,  the  leader  of  the  vanguard,  was  slain,  and 
Spaniard  and  Tlaxcaltecan  were  falling  like  wheat 
before  the  sickle.  The  second  sluice,  as  well  as 


174  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

each  side  of  the  dyke,  was  blocked  with  canoes  full 
of  savage  warriors ;  and  there  was  another  sanguin 
ary  metee  until  this  gap  too  was  rilled  with  slain,  and 
over  the  bridge  of  human  corpses  the  fugitives  gained 
the  other  bank.  Alvarado,  fighting  with  the  rear 
most  to  hold  in  check  the  savages  who  followed 
along  the  dyke,  was  the  last  to  cross ;  and  before 
he  could  follow  his  comrades  the  current  suddenly 
broke  through  the  ghastly  obstruction,  and  swept  the 
channel  clear.  His  faithful  horse  had  been  killed 
under  him ;  he  himself  was  sorely  wounded ;  his 
friends  were  gone,  and  the  merciless  foe  hemmed 
him  in.  We  cannot  but  be  reminded  of  the  Roman 

hero,  — 

"  Of  him  who  held  the  bridge  so  well 
In  the  brave  days  of  old." 

Alvarado's  case  was  fully  as  desperate  as  that  of 
Horatius ;  and  he  rose  as  manlike  to  the  occasion. 
With  one  swift  glance  about,  he  saw  that  to  plunge 
into  the  flood  would  be  sure  death.  So,  with  a 
supreme  effort  of  his  muscular  frame,  he  thrust 
down  his  lance  and  sprang !  It  was  a  distance 
of  eighteen  feet.  Considerably  longer  jumps  have 
been  recorded.  Our  own  Washington  once  made 
a  running  jump  of  over  twenty  feet  in  his  ath 
letic  youth.  But  considering  the  surroundings,  the 
darkness,  his  wounds,  and  his  load  of  armor,  the 
wonderful  leap  of  Alvarado  has  perhaps  never  been 
surpassed  :  — 

"  For  fast  his  blood  was  flowing, 

And  he  was  sore  in  pain ; 
And  heavy  was  his  armor, 

And  spent  with  changing  blows." 


ALVARADCPS  LEAP.  175 

But  the  leap  was  made,  and  the  heroic  leaper 
staggered  up  the  farther  bank  and  rejoined  his 
countrymen. 

From  here  the  remnant  fought,  struggling  along 
the  causeway,  to  the  mainland.  The  Indians  at 
last  drew  off  from  the  pursuit,  and  the  exhausted 
Spaniards  had  time  to  breathe  and  look  about  to 
see  how  many  had  escaped.  The  survivors  were 
few  in  number.  Small  wonder  if,  as  the  legend  tells, 
their  stout-hearted  general,  used  as  he  was  to  a  stoic 
control  of  his  feelings,  sat  him  down  under  the  cy 
press,  which  is  still  pointed  out  as  the  tree  of  the 
Noche  Triste,  and  wept  a  strong  man's  tears  as  he 
looked  upon  the  pitiful  remnant  of  his  brave  army. 
Of  the  twelve  hundred  Spaniards  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  had  perished,  and  of  the  survivors  not  one  but 
was  wounded.  Two  thousand  of  his  allies,  the  Tlax- 
caltecan  Indians,  had  also  been  slain.  Indeed,  had 
it  not  been  that  the  savages  tried  less  to  kill  than 
to  capture  the  Spanish  for  a  more  horrible  death  by 
the  sacrificial  knife,  not  one  would  have  escaped. 
As  it  was,  the  survivors  saw  later  three  score  of  their 
comrades  butchered  upon  the  altar  of  the  great 
teocalli. 

All  the  artillery  was  lost,  and  so  was  all  the 
treasure.  Not  a  grain  of  powder  was  left  in  con 
dition  to  be  used,  and  their  armor  was  battered  out 
of  recognition.  Had  the  Indians  pursued  now,  the 
exhausted  men  would  have  fallen  easy  victims.  But 
after  that  terrific  struggle  the  savages  were  resting 
too,  and  the  Spaniards  were  permitted  to  escape. 


176  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

They  struck  out  for  the  friendly  pueblo  of  Tlaxcala 
by  a  circuitous  route  to  avoid  their  enemies,  but 
were  attacked  at  every  intervening  pueblo.  In  the 
plains  of  Otumba  was  their  most  desperate  hour. 
Surrounded  and  overwhelmed  by  the  savages,  they 
gave  themselves  up  for  lost.  But  fortunately  Cortez 
recognized  one  of  the  medicine  men  by  his  rich 
dress,  and  in  a  last  desperate  charge,  with  Alvarado 
and  a  few  other  officers,  struck  down  the  person 
upon  whom  the  superstitious  Indians  hang  so  much 
of  the  fate  of  war.  The  wizard  dead,  his  awe-struck 
followers  gave  way ;  and  again  the  Spaniards  came 
out  from  the  very  jaws  of  death. 

In  the  siege  of  Mexico,  —  the  bloodiest  and  most 
romantic  siege  in  all  America,  —  Alvarado  was  prob 
ably  the  foremost  figure  after  Cortez.  The  great 
general  was  the  head  of  that  remarkable  campaign, 
and  a  head  indeed  worth  having.  There  is  nothing 
in  history  quite  like  his  achievement  in  having  thir 
teen  brigantines  built  at  Tlaxcala  and  transported 
on  the  shoulders  of  men  over  fifty  miles  inland 
across  the  mountains  to  be  launched  on  the  lake 
of  Mexico  and  aid  in  the  siege.  The  nearest  to  it 
was  the  great  feat  of  Balboa  in  taking  two  brigan 
tines  across  the  Isthmus.  The  exploits  of  Hannibal 
the  great  Carthaginian  at  the  siege  of  Tarentum, 
and  of  the  Spanish  "Great  Captain"  Gonzalo  de 
Cordova  at  the  same  place,  were  not  at  all  to  be 
compared  to  either. 

In  the  seventy-three  days'  fighting  of  the  siege, 
Alvarado  was  the  right  hand  as  Cortez  was  the  head. 


ALVARAD&S  LEAP.  177 

The  dashing  lieutenant  had  command  of  the  force 
which  pushed  its  assault  along  the  same  causeway 
by  which  they  had  retreated  on  the  Noche  Triste. 
In  one  of  the  battles  Cortez's  horse  was  killed  under 
him,  and  the  conqueror  was  being  dragged  off  by 
the  Indians  when  one  of  his  pages  dashed  forward 
and  saved  him.  In  the  final  assault  and  desperate 
struggle  in  the  city  Cortez  led  half  the  Spanish 
force,  and  Alvarado  the  other  half;  and  the  latter 
it  was  who  conducted  that  memorable  storming  of 
the  great  teocalli. 

After  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  in  which  he  had 
won  such  honors,  Alvarado  was  sent  by  Cortez  to 
the  conquest  of  Guatemala,  with  a  small  force.  He 
marched  down  through  Oaxaca  and  Tehuantepec 
to  Guatemala,  meeting  a  resistance  characteristically 
Indian.  There  were  three  principal  tribes  in  Gua~ 
temala,  —  the  Quiche,  Zutuhil,  and  Cacchiquel.  The 
Quich^  opposed  him  in  the  open  field,  and  he  de 
feated  them.  Then  they  formally  surrendered,  made 
peace,  and  invited  him  to  visit  them  as  a  friend  in 
their  pueblo  of  Utatlan.  When  the  Spaniards  were 
safely  in  the  town  and  surrounded,  the  Indians  set 
fire  to  the  houses  and  fell  fiercely  upon  their  stifling 
guests.  After  a  hard  engagement  Alvarado  routed 
them,  and  put  the  ringleaders  to  death.  The  other 
two  tribes  submitted,  and  in  about  a  year  Alvarado 
and  his  little  company  had  achieved  the  conquest  of 
Guatemala.  His  services  were  rewarded  by  making 
him  governor  and  adelantado  of  the  province ;  and 
he  founded  his  city  of  Guatemala,  which  in  his  day 


I  78  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

probably  became  something  like  what  Mexico  then 
was,  —  a  town  containing  fifteen  thousand  to  twenty 
thousand  Indians  and  one  thousand  Spaniards. 

From  this,  his  capital,  Governor  Alvarado  was 
frequently  absent.  There  were  many  expeditions 
to  be  made  up  and  down  the  wild  New  World.  His 
greatest  journey  was  in  1534,  when,  building  his 
own  vessels  as  usual,  he  sailed  to  Ecuador  and  made 
the  difficult  march  inland  to  Quito,  only  to  find 
himself  in  Pizarro's  territory.  So  he  returned  to 
Guatemala  fruitless. 

During  one  of  his  absences  occurred  the  frightful 
earthquake  which  destroyed  the  city  of  Guatemala, 
and  dealt  Alvarado  a  personal  blow  from  which  he 
never  recovered.  Above  the  city  towered  two  great 
volcanoes,  —  the  Volcan  del  Agua  and  the  Volcan 
del  Fuego.  The  volcano  of  water  was  extinct,  and 
its  crater  was  filled  with  a  lake.  The  volcano  of 
fire  was  —  and  is  still  —  active.  In  that  memorable 
earthquake  the  lava  rim  of  the  Volcan  del  Agua  was 
rent  asunder  by  the  convulsion,  and  its  avalanche 
of  waters  tumbled  headlong  upon  the  doomed  city. 
Thousands  of  the  people  perished  under  falling 
walls  and  in  the  resistless  flood;  and  among  the 
lost  was  Alvarado's  wife,  Dona  Beatriz  de  la  Cueva. 
Her  death  broke  the  brave  soldier's  spirit,  for  he 
loved  her  very  dearly. 

In  the  troublous  times  which  befell  Mexico  after 
Cortez  had  finished  his  conquest,  and  began  to  be 
spoiled  by  prosperity  and  to  make  a  very  unadmir- 
able  exhibition  of  himself,  Alvarado's  support  was 


ALVAR ADO'S  LEAP.  179 

sought  and  won  by  the  great  and  good  viceroy, 
Antonio  de  Mendoza,  —  one  of  the  foremost  execu 
tive  minds  of  all  time.  This  was  no  treachery  on 
Alvarado's  part  toward  his  former  commander ;  for 
Cortez  had  turned  traitor  not  only  to  the  Crown,  but 
also  to  his  friends.  The  cause  of  Mendoza  was  the 
cause  of  good  government  and  of  loyalty. 

It  had  become  necessary  to  tame  the  hostile 
Nayares  Indians,  who  had  caused  the  Spaniards 
great  trouble  in  the  province  of  Jalisco ;  and  in  this 
campaign  Alvarado  joined  Mendoza.  The  Indians 
retreated  to  the  top  of  the  huge  and  apparently 
impregnable  cliff  of  the  Mixton,  and  they  must  be 
dislodged  at  any  cost.  The  storming  of  that  rock 
ranks  with  the  storming  of  Acoma  as  one  of  the 
most  desperate  and  brilliant  ever  recorded.  The 
viceroy  commanded  in  person,  but  the  real  achieve 
ment  was  by  Alvarado  and  a  fellow  officer.  In  the 
scaling  of  the  cliff  Alvarado  was  hit  on  the  head  by 
a  rock  rolled  down  by  the  savages,  and  died  from 
the  wound,  —  but  not  until  he  saw  his  followers  win 
that  brilliant  day. 

The  man  who,  next  to  Alvarado,  deserves  the 
credit  of  the  Mixton  was  Cristobal  de  Onate,  a 
man  of  distinction  for  several  reasons.  He  was  a 
valued  officer,  a  good  executive,  and  one  of  the  first 
millionnaires  in  North  America.  He  was,  too,  the 
father  of  the  colonizer  of  New  Mexico,  Juan  de 
Onate.  June  n,  1548,  several  years  after  the 
battle  of  the  Mixton,  the  elder  Onate  discovered 
the  richest  silver  mines  on  the  continent,  —  the 


180  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

mines  of  Zacatecas,  in  the  barren  and  desolate 
plateau  where  now  stands  the  Mexican  city  of  that 
name.  These  huge  veins  of  "ruby,"  "black,"  ar- 
senate,  and  virgin  silver  made  the  first  millionnaires 
in  North  America,  as  the  conquest  of  Peru  made 
the  first  on  the  southern  continent.  The  mines  of 
Zacatecas  were  not  so  vast  as  those  developed  at 
Potosi,  in  Bolivia,  which  produced  between  1541  and 
1664  the  inconceivable  sum  of  $641,250,000  in  silver ; 
but  the  Zacatecas  mines  were  also  enormously  pro 
ductive.  Their  silver  stream  was  the  first  realization 
of  the  dreams  of  vast  wealth  on  the  northern  conti 
nent,  and  made  a  startling  commercial  change  in  this 
part  of  the  New  World.  Locally,  the  discovery  re 
duced  the  price  of  the  staples  of  life  about  ninety 
per  cent !  Mexico  was  never  a  great  gold  country, 
but  for  more  than  three  centuries  has  remained  one 
of  the  chief  silver  producers.  It  is  so  to-day,  though 
its  output  is  not  nearly  so  large  as  that  of  the  United 
States. 

Cristobal  de  Onate  was,  therefore,  a  very  important 
man  in  the  working  out  of  destiny.  His  "  bonanza  " 
made  Mexico  a  new  country,  commercially,  and  his 
millions  were  put  to  a  better  use  than  is  always  the 
case  nowadays,  for  they  had  the  honor  of  building 
two  of  the  first  towns  in  our  own  United  States. 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          181 


IX. 

THE   AMERICAN   GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

WE  all  know  of  that  strange  yellow  ramskin 
which  hung  dragon-guarded  in  the  dark 
groves  of  Colchis ;  and  how  Jason  and  his  Argo 
nauts  won  the  prize  after  so  many  wanderings  and 
besetments.  But  in  our  own  New  World  we  have 
had  a  far  more  dazzling  golden  fleece  than  that 
mythical  pupil  of  old  Cheiron  ever  chased,  and  one 
that  no  man  ever  captured,  —  though  braver  men 
than  Jason  tried  it.  Indeed,  there  were  hundreds 
of  more  than  Jasons,  who  fought  harder  and  suffered 
tenfold  deadlier  fortunes  and  never  clutched  the 
prize  after  all.  For  the  dragon  which  guarded  the 
American  Golden  Fleece  was  no  such  lap-dog  of  a 
chimera  as  Jason's,  to  swallow  a  pretty  potion  and 
go  to  sleep.  It  was  a  monster  bigger  than  all  the 
land  the  Argonauts  lived  in  and  all  the  lands  they 
roamed ;  a  monster  which  not  man  nor  mankind 
has  yet  done  away  with,  —  the  mortal  monster  of 
the  tropics. 

The  myth  of  Jason  is  one  of  the  prettiest  in  an 
tiquity,  and  it  is  more  than  pretty.  We  are  begin 
ning  to  see  what  an  important  bearing  a  fairy  tale 
may  have  on  sober  knowledge.  The  myth  has 


1 82  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

always  somewhere  some  foundation  of  truth;  and 
that  hidden  truth  may  be  of  enduring  value.  To 
study  history,  indeed,  without  paying  any  attention 
to  the  related  myths,  is  to  shut  off  a  precious  side 
light.  Human  progress,  in  almost  every  phase,  has 
been  influenced  by  this  quaint  but  potent  factor. 
Where  do  you  fancy  chemistry  would  be  if  the  philo 
sopher's  stone  and  other  myths  had  not  lured  the 
old  alchemists  to  pry  into  mysteries  where  they 
found  never  what  they  sought,  but  truths  of  utmost 
value  to  mankind?  Geography  in  particular  has 
owed  almost  more  of  its  growth  into  a  science  to 
myths  than  to  scholarly  invention ;  and  the  gold 
myth,  throughout  the  world,  has  been  the  prophet 
and  inspiration  of  discovery,  and  a  moulder  of 
history. 

We  have  been  rather  too  much  in  the  habit  of 
classing  the  Spaniards  as  the  gold- hunters,  with  an 
intimation  that  gold-hunting  is  a  sort  of  sin,  and  that 
they  were  monumentally  prone  to  it.  But  it  is  not 
a  Spanish  copyright,  —  the  trait  is  common  to  all 
mankind.  The  only  difference  was  that  the  Span 
iards  found  gold ;  and  that  is  offence  enough  to 
"historians"  too  narrow  to  consider  "what  would 
the  English  have  done  had  they  found  gold  in 
America  at  the  outset." 

I  believe  it  is  not  denied  that  when  gold  was  dis 
covered  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  his  land  the 
Saxon  found  legs  to  get  to  it,  —  and  even  adopted 
measures  not  altogether  handsome  in  clutching  it; 
but  nobody  is  so  silly  as  to  speak  of  "  the  days  of 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          183 

'49  "  as  a  disgrace  to  us.  Some  lamentable  pages 
there  were ;  but  when  California  suddenly  tipped  up 
the  continent  till  the  strength  of  the  east  ran  down 
to  her,  she  opened  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  im 
portant  and  most  significant  chapters  in  our  national 
story.  For  gold  is  not  a  sin.  It  is  a  very  necessary 
thing,  and  a  very  worthy  one,  as  long  as  we  remem 
ber  that  it  is  a  means  and  not  an  end,  a  tool  and 
not  an  accomplishment,  —  which  point  of  business 
common-sense  we  are  quite  as  apt  to  forget  in  Wall 
Street  as  in  the  mines. 

We  have  largely  to  thank  this  universal  and  per 
fectly  proper  fondness  for  gold  for  giving  us  America, 
—  as,  in  fact,  for  civilizing  most  other  countries. 

The  scientific  history  of  to-day  has  fully  shown 
how  foolishly  false  is  the  idea  that  the  Spaniards 
sought  merely  gold;  how  manfully  they  provided 
for  the  mind  and  the  soul  as  well  as  the  pocket. 
But  gold  was  with  them,  as  it  would  be  even  now 
with  other  men,  the  strong  motive.  The  great 
difference  was  only  that  gold  did  not  make  them 
forget  their  religion.  It  was  the  golden  finger  that 
beckoned  Columbus  to  America,  Cortez  to  Mexico, 
Pizarro  to  Peru, — just  as  it  led  us  to  California, 
which  otherwise  would  not  have  been  one  of  our 
States  to-day.  The  gold  actually  found  at  first  in 
the  New  World  was  disappointingly  little ;  up  to 
the  conquest  of  Mexico  it  aggregated  only  $500,000. 
Cortez  swelled  the  amount,  and  Pizarro  jumped  it 
up  to  a  fabulous  and  dazzling  figure.  But,  curiously 
enough,  the  gold  that  was  found  did  not  cut  a  more 


1 84  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

important  figure  in  the  exploration  and  civilization 
of  the  New  World  than  that  which  was  pursued  in 
vain.  The  wonderful  myth  which  stands  for  the 
American  Golden  Fleece  had  a  more  startling  effect 
on  geography  and  history  than  the  real  and  incalcu 
lable  riches  of  Peru. 

Of  this  fascinating  myth  we  have  very  little  popu 
lar  knowledge,  except  that  a  corruption  of  its  name 
is  in  everybody's  mouth.  We  speak  of  a  rich  region 
as  "an  Eldorado,"  or  "the  Eldorado"  oftener  than 
by  any  other  metaphor ;  but  it  is  a  blunder  quite 
unworthy  of  scholars.  It  is  simply  saying  "  an  the," 
"the  the."  The  word  is  Dorado;  and  it  does  not 
mean  "  the  golden,"  as  we  seem  to  fancy,  but  "  the 
gilded  man,"  being  a  contraction  of  the  Spanish 
el  hombre  dorado.  And  the  Dorado,  or  gilded 
man,  has  made  a  history  of  achievement  beside 
which  Jason  and  all  his  fellow  demi-gods  sink  into 
insignificance. 

Like  all  such  myths,  this  had  a  foundation  in  fact. 
The  Colchian  ramskin  was  a  poetic  fancy  of  the  gold 
mines  of  the  Caucasus ;  but  there  really  was  a  gilded 
man.  The  story  of  him  and  what  he  led  to  is  a  fairy 
tale  that  has  the  advantage  of  being  true.  It  is  an 
enormously  complicated  theme  ;  but,  thanks  to  Ban- 
delier's  final  unravelling  of  it,  the  story  can  now  be 
told  intelligibly,  —  as  it  has  not  been  popularly  told 
heretofore. 

A  number  of  years  ago  there  was  found  in  the 
lagoon  of  Siecha,  in  New  Granada,  a  quaint  little 
group  of  statuary ;  it  was  of  the  rude  and  ancient 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.  185 

Indian  workmanship,  and  even  more  precious  for  its 
ethnologic  interest  than  for  its  material,  which  was 
pure  gold.  This  rare  specimen  —  which  is  still  to 
be  seen  in  a  museum  in  Berlin  —  is  a  golden  raft, 
upon  which  are  grouped  ten  golden  figures  of  men. 
It  represents  a  strange  custom  which  was  in  prehis 
toric  times  peculiar  to  the  Indians  of  the  village  of 
Guatavita,  on  the  highlands  of  New  Granada.  That 
custom  was  this  :  On  a  certain  great  day  one  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  village  used  to  smear  his  naked  body 
with  a  gum,  and  then  powder  himself  from  head  to 
foot  with  pure  gold-dust.  He  was  the  Gilded  Man. 
Then  he  was  taken  out  by  his  companions  on  a  raft 
to  the  middle  of  the  lake,  which  was  near  the  village, 
and  leaping  from  the  raft  the  Gilded  Man  used  to 
wash  off  his  precious  and  wonderful  covering  and  let 
it  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  It  was  a  sacrifice 
for  the  benefit  of  the  village.  This  custom  is  his 
torically  established,  but  it  had  been  broken  up  more 
than  thirty  years  before  the  story  was  first  heard  of 
by  Europeans,  —  namely,  the  Spaniards  in  Venezuela 
in  1527.  It  had  not  been  voluntarily  abandoned  by 
the  people  of  Guatavita.  The  warlike  Muysca  In 
dians  of  Bogota  had  ended  it  by  swooping  down 
upon  the  village  of  Guatavita  and  nearly  extermi 
nating  its  inhabitants.  Still,  the  sacrifice  had  been  a 
fact;  and  at  that  enormous  distance  and  in  those 
uncertain  days  the  Spaniards  heard  of  it  as  still  a 
fact.  The  story  of  the  Gilded  Man,  El  Hombre 
Dorado,  shortened  to  El  Dorado,  was  too  startling 
not  to  make  an  impression.  It  became  a  household 


1 86  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

word,  and  thenceforward  was  a  lure  to  all  who  ap 
proached  the  northern  coast  of  South  America. 
We  may  wonder  how  such  a  tale  (which  had 
already  become  a  myth  in  1527,  since  the  fact  upon 
which  it  was  founded  had  ceased)  could  hold  its 
own  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  without  being 
fully  exploded  ;  but  our  surprise  will  cease  when  we 
remember  what  a  difficult  and  enormous  wilderness 
South  America  was,  and  how  much  of  it  has  unex 
plored  mysteries  even  to-day. 

The  first  attempts  to  reach  the  Gilded  Man  were 
from  the  coast  of  Venezuela.  Charles  I.  of  Spain, 
afterward  Charles  V.,  had  pawned  the  coast  of  that 
Spanish  possession  to  the  wealthy  Bavarian  family  of 
the  Welsers,  giving  them  the  right  to  colonize  and 
"  discover  "  the  interior.  In  1529,  Ambrosius  Dai- 
finger  and  Bartholomew  Seyler  landed  at  Coro,  Ven 
ezuela,  with  four  hundred  men.  The  tale  of  the 
Gilded  Man  was  already  current  among  the  Span 
iards  ;  and,  allured  by  it,  Dalfinger  marched  inland 
to  find  it.  He  was  a  dreadful  brute,  and  his  expe 
dition  was  nothing  less  than  absolute  piracy.  He 
penetrated  as  far  as  the  Magdalena  River,  in  New 
Granada,  scattering  death  and  devastation  wherever 
he  went.  He  found  some  gold;  but  his  brutality 
toward  the  Indians  was  so  great,  and  in  such  a  strong 
contrast  to  what  they  had  been  accustomed  to  from 
the  Spaniards,  that  the  exasperated  natives  turned, 
and  his  march  amounted  to  a  running  fight  of  more 
than  a  year's  duration.  The  trouble  was,  the  Welsers 
cared  only  to  get  treasure  back  for  the  money  they 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          187 

had  paid  out,  and  had  none  of  the  real  Spanish 
spirit  of  colonizing  and  christianizing.  Dalfinger 
failed  to  find  the  Gilded  Man,  and  died  in  1530  from 
a  wound  received  during  his  infamous  expedition. 

His  successor  in  command  of  the  Welser  inter 
ests,  Nicolas  Federmann,  was  not  much  better  as  a 
man  and  no  more  successful  as  a  pioneer.  In  1530 
he  marched  inland  to  discover  the  Dorado,  but  his 
course  was  due  south  from  Coro,  so  he  never  touched 
New  Granada.  After  a  fearful  march  through  the 
tropical  forests  he  had  to  return  empty-handed  in 


Here  already  begins  to  enter,  chronologically,  one 
of  the  curious  ramifications  and  variations  of  this 
prolific  myth.  At  first  a  fact,  in  thirty  years  a  fable, 
now  in  three  years  more  the  Gilded  Man  began  to 
be  a  vagabond  will-o'-the-wisp,  flitting  from  one 
place  to  another,  and  gradually  becoming  tangled 
up  in  many  other  myths.  The  first  variation  came 
in  the  first  attempt  to  discover  the  source  of  the 
Orinoco,  —  the  mighty  river  which  it  was  supposed 
could  flow  only  from  a  great  lake.  In  1530,  Anto 
nio  Sedeno  sailed  from  Spain  with  an  expedition  to 
explore  the  Orinoco.  He  reached  the  Gulf  of  Paria 
and  built  a  fort,  intending  thence  to  push  his  explo 
ration.  While  he  was  doing  this,  Diego  de  Ordaz, 
a  former  companion  of  Cortez,  had  obtained  in 
Spain  a  concession  to  colonize  the  district  then 
called  Maranon,  —  a  vaguely  defined  area  covering 
Venezuela,  Guiana,  and  northern  Brazil.  He  sailed 
from  Spain  in  1531,  reached  the  Orinoco  and  sailed 


1 88  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

up  that  river  to  its  falls.  Then  he  had  to  return, 
after  two  years  of  vainly  trying  to  overcome  the 
obstacles  before  him.  But  on  this  expedition  he 
heard  that  the  Orinoco  had  its  source  in  a  great 
lake,  and  that  the  road  to  that  lake  led  through  a 
province  called  Meta,  said  to  be  fabulously  rich  in 
gold.  On  the  authority  of  Bandelier,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  this  story  of  Meta  was  only  an  echo  of 
the  Dorado  tale  which  had  penetrated  as  far  as  the 
tribes  of  the  lower  Orinoco. 

Ordaz  was  followed  in  1534  by  Geronimo  Dortal, 
who  attempted  to  reach  Meta,  but  failed  even  to 
get  up  the  Orinoco.  In  1535  he  tried  to  penetrate 
overland  from  the  northeast  coast  of  Venezuela  to 
Meta,  but  made  a  complete  failure.  These  attempts 
from  Venezuela,  as  Bandelier  shows,  finally  localized 
the  home  of  the  Dorado  by  limiting  it  to  the  north 
western  part  of  the  continent.  It  had  been  vainly 
sought  elsewhere,  and  the  inference  was  that  it 
must  be  in  the  only  place  left,  —  the  high  plateau 
of  New  Granada. 

The  conquest  of  the  plateau  of  New  Granada, 
after  many  unsuccessful  attempts  which  cannot  be 
detailed  here,  was  finally  made  by  Gonzalo  Xime- 
nez  de  Quesada  in  1536-38.  That  gallant  soldier 
moved  up  the  Magdalena  River  with  a  force  of  six 
hundred  and  twenty  men  on  foot,  and  eighty-five 
horsemen.  Of  these  only  one  hundred  and  eighty 
survived  when  he  reached  the  plateau  in  the  begin 
ning  of  1537.  He  found  the  Muysca  Indians  living 
in  permanent  villages,  and  in  possession  of  gold  and 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          189 

emeralds.  They  made  a  characteristic  resistance ; 
but  one  tribe  after  another  was  overpowered,  and 
Quesada  became  the  conqueror  of  New  Granada. 

The  treasure  which  was  divided  by  the  con 
querors  amounted  to  246,976  pesos  de  oro,  —  about 
$1,250,000  now,  —  and  1,815  emeralds,  some  of 
which  were  of  enormous  size  and  value.  They  had 
found  the  real  home  of  the  Gilded  Man,  —  and  had 
even  come  to  Guatavita,  whose  people  made  a 
savage  resistance,  —  but  of  course  did  not  find  him, 
since  the  custom  had  been  already  abandoned. 

Hardly  had  Quesada  completed  his  great  con 
quest  when  he  was  surprised  by  the  arrival  of  two 
other  Spanish  expeditions,  which  had  been  led  to 
the  same  spot  by  the  myth  of  the  Dorado.  One 
was  led  by  Federmann,  who  had  penetrated  from 
the  coast  of  Venezuela  to  Bogota  on  this  his  sec 
ond  expedition,  —  a  frightful  journey.  At  the 
same  time,  and  without  the  knowledge  of  either, 
Sebastian  de  Belalcazar  had  marched  up  from  Quito 
in  search  of  the  Gilded  Man.  The  story  of  that 
gold-covered  chief  had  penetrated  the  heart  of 
Ecuador,  and  the  Indian  statements  induced  Belal 
cazar  to  march  to  the  spot.  An  arrangement  was 
made  between  the  three  leaders  by  which  Quesada 
was  left  sole  master  of  the  country  he  had  con 
quered,  and  Federmann  and  Belalcazar  returned 
to  their  respective  places. 

While  Federmann  was  chasing  the  myth  thus,  a 
successor  to  him  had  already  arrived  at  Coro.  This 
was  the  intrepid  German  known  as  "George  of 


I QO  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS, 

Speyer,"  whose  real  name,  Bandelier  has  discovered, 
was  George  Hormuth.  Reaching  Coro  in  1535,  he 
heard  not  only  of  the  Dorado,  but  even  of  tame 
sheep  to  the  southwest,  —  that  is,  in  the  direction  of 
Peru.  Following  these  vague  indications,  he  started 
southwest,  but  encountered  such  enormous  difficul 
ties  in  trying  to  reach  the  mountain  pass,  which  the 
Indians  told  him  led  to  the  land  of  the  Dorado,  that 
he  drifted  into  the  vast  and  fearful  tropical  forests 
of  the  upper  Orinoco.  Here  he  heard  of  Meta,  and, 
following  that  myth,  penetrated  to  within  one  degree 
of  the  equator.  For  twenty-seven  months  he  and 
his  Spanish  followers  floundered  in  the  tangled  and 
swampy  wastes  between  the  Orinoco  and  the  Ama 
zon.  They  met  some  very  numerous  and  warlike 
tribes,  most  conspicuous  of  which  were  the  Uaupes.1 
They  found  no  gold,  but  everywhere  heard  the  fable 
of  a  great  lake  associated  with  gold.  Of  the  one 
hundred  and  nine'ty  men  who  started  on  this  expe 
dition  only  one  hundred  and  thirty  came  back,  and 
but  fifty  of  these  had  strength  left  to  bear  arms. 
The  whole  of  the  indescribably  awful  trip  lasted 
three  years.  The  result  of  its  horrors  was  to  deflect 
the  attention  of  explorers  from  the  real  home  of  the 
Dorado,  and  to  lead  them  on  a  wild-goose  chase 
after  a  related  but  rather  geographic  myth  to  the 
forests  of  the  Amazon.  In  other  words,  it  prepared 
for  the  exploration  of  northern  Brazil. 

Shortly  after  George  of  Speyer,  and  entirely  un 
connected  with  him,  Francisco  Pizarro,  the  conqueror 

1  Pronounced  Wow-pess . 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.  191 

of  Peru,  had  given  an  impulse  to  the  exploration  of 
the  Amazon  from  the  Pacific  side  of  the  continent. 
In  1538,  distrusting  Belalcazar,  he  sent  his  brother, 
Gonzalo  Pizarro,  to  Quito  to  supersede  his  suspected 
lieutenant.  The  following  year  Gonzalo  heard  that 
the  cinnamon-tree  abounded  in  the  forests  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Andes,  and  that  farther  east 
dwelt  powerful  Indian  tribes  rich  in  gold.  That  is, 
while  the  original  and  genuine  myth  of  the  Dorado 
had  reached  to  Quito  from  the  north,  the  echo  myth 
of  Meta  had  got  there  from  the  east.  Since  Belalca 
zar  had  gone  to  the  real  former  home  of  the  Dorado, 
and  had  failed  to  find  that  gentleman  at  home,  it 
was  supposed  that  the  home  must  be  somewhere 
else,  —  east,  instead  of  north,  from  Quito.  Gonzalo 
made  his  disastrous  expedition  into  the  eastern  forests 
with  two  hundred  and  twenty  men.  In  the  two  years 
of  that  ghastly  journey  all  the  horses  perished,  and  so 
did  all  the  Indian  companions ;  and  the  few  Span 
iards  who  survived  to  get  back  to  Peru  in  1541  were 
utterly  broken  down.  The  cinnamon-tree  had  been 
found,  but  not  the  Gilded  Man.  One  of  Gonzalo's 
lieutenants,  Francisco  de  Orellana,  had  gone  in 
advance  on  the  upper  Amazon  with  fifty  men  in  a 
crazy  boat.  The  two  companies  were  unable  to 
come  together  again,  and  Orellana  finally  drifted 
down  the  Amazon  to  its  mouth  with  untold  sufferings. 
Floating  out  into  the  Atlantic,  they  finally  reached 
the  island  of  Cubagua,  Sept.  n,  1541.  This  expe 
dition  was  the  first  to  bring  the  world  reliable  infor 
mation  as  to  the  size  and  nature  of  the  greatest 


192  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

river  on  earth,  and  also  to  give  that  river  the  name 
it  bears  to-day.  They  encountered  Indian  tribes 
whose  women  fought  side  by  side  with  the  men,  and 
for  that  reason  named  it  Rio  de  las  Amazones,  — 
River  of  the  Amazons. 

In  1543  Hernan  Perez  Quesada,  a  brother  of  the 
conqueror,  penetrated  the  regions  which  George  of 
Speyer  had  visited.  He  went  in  from  Bogota,  hav 
ing  heard  the  twisted  myth  of  Meta,  but  only  found 
misery,  hunger,  disease,  and  hostile  savages  in  the  six 
teen  awful  months  he  floundered  in  the  wilderness. 

Meanwhile  Spain  had  become  satisfied  that  the 
leasing  of  Venezuela  to  the  German  money-lenders 
was  a  failure.  The  Welser  regime  was  doing  nothing 
but  harm.  Yet  a  last  effort  was  determined  upon, 
and  Philip  von  Hutten,  a  young  and  gallant  German 
cavalier,  left  Coro  in  August,  1541,  in  chase  of  the 
golden  myth,  which  by  this  time  had  flitted  as  far 
south  as  the  Amazon.  For  eighteen  months  he  wan 
dered  in  a  circle,  and  then,  hearing  of  a  powerful  and 
gold-rich  tribe  called  the  Omaguas,  he  dashed  on 
south  across  the  equator  with  his  force  of  forty  men. 
He  met  the  Omaguas,  was  defeated  by  them  and 
wounded,  and  finally  struggled  back  to  Venezuela 
after  suffering  for  more  than  three  years  in  the  most 
impassable  forests  and  swamps  of  the  tropics.  Upon 
his  return  he  was  murdered ;  and  that  was  the  last 
of  the  German  domination  in  Venezuela. 

The  fact  that  the  Omaguas  had  been  able  to  de 
feat  a  Spanish  company  in  open  battle  gave  that 
tribe  a  great  reputation.  So  strong  in  numbers  and 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          193 

in  bravery,  it  was  naturally  supposed  that  they  must 
also  have  metallic  wealth,  though  no  evidence  of 
that  had  been  seen. 

Driven  from  its  home,  the  myth  of  the  Gilded 
Man  had  become  a  wandering  ghost.  Its  original 
form  had  been  lost  sight  of,  and  from  the  Dorado 
had  gradually  been  changed  to  a  golden  tribe.  It 
had  become  a  confusion  and  combination  of  the 
Dorado  and  Meta,  following  the  curious  but  char 
acteristic  course  of  myths.  First,  a  remarkable  fact ; 
then  the  story  of  a  fact  that  had  ceased  to  be ;  then 
a  far-off  echo  of  that  story,  entirely  robbed  of  the 
fundamental  facts  ;  and  at  last  a  general  tangle  and 
jumble  of  fact,  story,  and  echo  into  a  new  and 
almost  unrecognizable  myth. 

This  vagabond  and  changeling  myth  figured  prom 
inently  in  1550  in  the  province  of  Peru.  In  that 
year  several  hundred  Indians  from  the  middle  course 
of  the  Amazon  —  that  is,  from  about  the  heart  of 
northern  Brazil  —  took  refuge  in  the  eastern  Spanish 
settlements  in  Peru.  They  had  been  driven  from 
their  homes  by  the  hostility  of  neighbor  tribes,  and 
had  reached  Peru  only  after  several  years  of  toilsome 
wanderings. 

They  gave  exaggerated  accounts  of  the  wealth  and 
importance  of  the  Omaguas,  and  these  tales  were 
eagerly  credited.  Still,  Peru  was  now  in  no  condi 
tion  to  undertake  any  new  conquest,  and  it  was  not 
till  ten  years  after  the  arrival  of  these  Indian  refu 
gees  that  any  step  was  taken  in  the  matter.  The 
first  viceroy  of  Peru,  the  great  and  good  Antonio  de 


1 94  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Mendoza,  who  had  been  promoted  from  the  vice- 
royalty  of  Mexico  to  this  higher  dignity,  saw  in  this 
report  the  chance  for  a  stroke  of  wisdom.  He  had 
cleared  Mexico  of  a  few  hundred  restless  fellows  who 
were  a  great  menace  to  good  government,  by  sending 
them  off  to  chase  the  golden  phantom  of  the  Quivira 
—  that  remarkable  expedition  of  Coronado  which 
was  so  important  to  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
He  now  found  in  his  new  province  a  similar  but 
much  worse  danger ;  and  it  was  to  rid  Peru  of  its 
unruly  and  dangerous  characters  that  Mendoza  set  on 
foot  the  famous  expedition  of  Pedro  de  Ursua.  It 
was  the  most  numerous  body  of  men  ever  assembled 
for  such  a  purpose  in  Spanish  America  in  the  six 
teenth  century,  but  was  composed  of  the  worst  and 
most  desperate  elements  that  the  Spanish  colonies 
ever  contained.  Ursua's  force  was  concentrated  on 
the  banks  of  the  upper  Amazon;  July  i,  1560,  the 
first  brigantine  floated  down  the  great  river.  The 
main  body  followed  in  other  brigantines  on  the  26th 
of  September. 

The  country  was  one  vast  tropical  forest,  abso 
lutely  deserted.  It  soon  became  apparent  that 
their  golden  expectations  could  never  be  realized, 
and  discontent  began  to  play  a  bloody  role.  The 
throng  of  desperadoes  by  whose  practical  banish 
ment  the  wise  viceroy  had  purified  Peru,  could  not 
be  expected  to  get  along  well  together.  No  longer 
scattered  among  good  citizens  who  could  restrain 
them,  but  in  condensed  rascality,  they  soon  began 
to  suggest  the  fable  of  the  Kilkenny  cats.  Their 
voyage  was  an  orgie  entirely  indescribable. 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.  195 

Among  these  scoundrels  was  one  of  peculiar  char 
acter, —  a  physically  deformed  but  very  ambitious 
fellow,  who  had  every  reason  not  to  wish  to  return 
to  Peru.  This  was  Lope  de  Aguirre.  Seeing  that 
the  object  of  the  expedition  must  absolutely  fail,  he 
began  to  form  a  nefarious  plot.  If  they  could  not 
get  gold  in  the  way  they  had  hoped,  why  not  in 
another  way  ?  In  short,  he  conceived  the  audacious 
plan  of  turning  traitor  to  Spain  and  everything  else, 
and  founding  a  new  empire.  To  achieve  this  he 
felt  it  necessary  to  remove  the  leaders  of  the  expe 
dition,  who  might  have  scruples  against  betraying 
their  country.  So,  as  the  wretched  brigantines 
floated  down  the  great  river,  they  became  the  stage 
of  a  series  of  atrocious  tragedies.  First,  the  com 
mander  Ursua  was  assassinated,  and  in  his  place 
was  put  a  young  but  dissolute  nobleman,  Fernando 
de  Guzman.  He  was  at  once  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  a  prince,  —  the  first  open  step  toward 
high  treason. 

Then  Guzman  was  murdered,  and  also  the  in 
famous  Ynez  de  Atienza,  a  woman  who  bore  a 
shameful  part  in  the  affair;  and  the  misshapen 
Aguirre  became  leader  and  "  tyrant."  His  treason 
was  now  undisguised,  and  he  commanded  the  ex 
pedition  thenceforth  not  as  a  Spanish  officer,  but 
as  a  rebel  and  a  pirate.  As  he  steered  toward  the 
Atlantic,  it  was  with  plans  of  appalling  magnitude 
and  daring.  He  intended  to  sail  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  land  on  the  Isthmus,  seize  Panama,  and 
thence  sail  to  Peru,  where  he  would  kill  off  all  who 
opposed  him,  and  establish  an  empire  of  his  own  ! 


196  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

But  a  curious  accident  brought  his  plans  to 
nought.  Instead  of  reaching  the  mouth  of  the 
Amazon,  the  flotilla  drifted  to  the  left,  in  that  won 
derfully  tangled  river,  and  got  into  the  Rio  Negro. 
The  sluggish  currents  prevented  their  discovering 
their  mistake,  and  they  worked  ahead  into  the 
Cassiquiare,  and  thence  into  the  Orinoco.  On  the 
ist  of  July,  1561  (a  year  to  a  day  had  been  passed  in 
navigating  the  labyrinth,  and  the  days  had  been 
marked  with  murder  right  and  left),  the  desper 
adoes  reached  the  Atlantic  Ocean;  but  through 
the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco,  and  not,  as  they  had 
expected,  through  the  Amazon.  Seventeen  days 
later  they  sighted  the  island  of  Margarita,  where 
there  was  a  Spanish  post.  By  treachery  they  seized 
the  island,  and  then  proclaimed  their  independence 
of  Spain. 

This  step  gave  Aguirre  money  and  some  ammuni 
tion,  but  he  still  lacked  vessels  for  a  voyage  by  sea. 
He  tried  to  seize  a  large  vessel  which  was  conveying 
the  provincial  Monticinos,  a  Dominican  missionary, 
to  Venezuela ;  but  his  treachery  was  frustrated,  and 
the  alarm  was  given  on  the  mainland.  Infuriated 
by  his  failure,  the  little  monster  butchered  the  royal 
officers  of  Margarita.  His  plan  to  reach  Panama 
was  balked ;  but  he  succeeded  at  last  in  capturing 
a  smaller  vessel,  by  means  of  which  he  landed  on 
the  coast  of  Venezuela  in  August,  1561.  His  ca 
reer  on  the  mainland  was  one  of  crime  and  rapine. 
The  people,  taken  by  surprise,  and  unable  to  make 
immediate  resistance  to  the  outlaw,  fled  at  his 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          197 

approach.  The  authorities  sent  as  far  as  New 
Granada  in  their  appeals  for  help ;  and  all  northern 
South  America  was  terrorized. 

Aguirre  proceeded  without  opposition  as  far  as 
Barquecimeto.  He  found  that  place  deserted  ;  but 
very  soon  there  arrived  the  maestro  de  campo, 
(Colonel)  Diego  de  Paredes,  with  a  hastily  collected 
loyal  force.  At  the  same  time  Quesada,  the  con 
queror  of  New  Granada,  was  hastening  against  the 
traitor  with  what  force  he  could  muster.  Aguirre 
found  himself  blockaded  in  Barquecimeto,  and  his 
followers  began  to  desert.  Finally,  left  almost  alone, 
Aguirre  slew  his  daughter  (who  had  shared  all  those 
awful  wanderings)  and  surrendered  himself.  The 
Spanish  commander  did  not  wish  to  execute  the 
arch-traitor;  but  Aguirre's  own  followers  insisted 
upon  his  death,  and  secured  it. 

There  were  many  subsequent  attempts  to  discover 
the  Gilded  Man ;  but  they  were  of  little  importance, 
except  the  one  undertaken  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
in  1595.  He  got  only  as  far  as  the  Salto  Coroni, — 
that  is,  failed  to  achieve  anything  like  as  great  a 
feat  as  even  Ordaz,  —  but  returned  to  England  with 
glowing  accounts  of  a  great  inland  lake  and  rich 
nations.  He  had  mixed  up  the  legend  of  the 
Dorado  with  reports  of  the  Incas  of  Peru,  —  which 
proves  that  the  Spanish  were  not  the  only  people 
to  swallow  fables.  Indeed,  the  English  and  other 
explorers  were  fully  as  credulous  and  fully  as  anxious 
to  get  to  the  fabled  gold. 


I9S  THE  SPANISH  PIONEE&S. 

The  myth  of  the  great  lake,  the  lake  of  Parime,1 
gradually  absorbed  the  myth  of  the  Gilded  Man. 
The  historic  tradition  became  merged  and  lost  in 
the  geographic  fable.  Only  in  the  eastern  forests  of 
Peru  did  the  Dorado  re-appear  in  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century,  but  as  a  distorted  and  groundless 
tale.  But  Lake  Parime  remained  on  the  maps  and 
in  geographical  descriptions.  It  is  a  curious  co 
incidence  that  where  the  golden  tribes  of  Meta 
were  once  believed  to  exist,  the  gold  fields  of 
Guiana  (now  a  bone  of  contention  between  Eng 
land  and  Venezuela)  have  recently  been  discov 
ered.  It  is  certain  that  Meta  was  only  a  myth,  but 
even  the  myth  was  useful. 

The  fable  of  the  lake  of  Parime  —  long  believed 
in  as  a  great  lake  with  whole  ranges  of  mountains  of 
silver  behind  it  —  was  fully  exploded  by  Humboldt 
in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  He  showed 
that  there  was  neither  a  great  lake  nor  were  there 
mountains  of  silver.  The  broad  savannas  of  the 
Orinoco,  when  overflowed  in  the  rainy  season,  had 
been  taken  for  a  lake,  and  the  silver  background 
was  simply  the  shimmer  of  the  sunlight  on  peaks 
of  micaceous  rock. 

With  Humboldt  finally  perished  the  most  remark 
able  fairy  tale  in  history.  No  other  myth  or  legend 
in  either  North  or  South  America  ever  exercised 
such  a  powerful  influence  on  the  course  of  geograph 
ical  discovery ;  none  ever  called  out  such  surpassing 
human  endeavor,  and  none  so  well  illustrated  the 
1  Pronounced  Pah-ra-may. 


THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  FLEECE.          199 

matchless  tenacity  of  purpose  and  the  self-sacrifice 
inherent  in  the  Spanish  character.  It  is  a  new  lesson 
to  most  of  us,  but  a  true  and  proved  one,  that  this 
southern  nation,  more  impulsive  and  impetuous  than 
those  of  the  north,  was  also  more  patient  and  more 
enduring. 

The  myth  died,  but  it  had  not  existed  in  vain. 
Before  it  had  been  disproved,  it  had  brought  about 
the  exploration  of  the  Amazon,  the  Orinoco,  all 
Brazil  north  of  the  Amazon,  all  Venezuela,  all  New 
Granada,  and  eastern  Ecuador.  If  we  look  at  the 
map  a  moment,  we  shall  see  what  this  means,  —  that 
the  Gilded  Man  gave  to  the  world  the  geography  of 
all  South  America  above  the  equator. 


III. 

THE   GREATEST   CONQUEST. 

PIZARRO  AND  PERU. 


I. 

THE   SWINEHERD    OF   TRUXILLO. 

SOMEWHERE  between  the  years  1471  and  1478, 
kJ3  (we  are  not  sure  of  the  exact  date),  an  unfortu 
nate  boy  was  born  in  the  city  of  Truxillo,1  province 
of  Estremadura,  Spain.  He  was  an  illegitimate  son 
of  Colonel  Gonzalo  Pizarro,2  who  had  won  distinc 
tion  in  the  wars  in  Italy  and  Navarre.  But  his  par 
entage  was  no  help  to  him.  The  disgraced  baby 
never  had  a  home,  —  it  is  even  said  that  he  was  left 
as  a  foundling  at  the  door  of  a  church.  He  grew  up 
to  young  manhood  in  ignorance  and  abject  poverty, 
without  schools  or  care  or  helping  hands,  thrown 
entirely  upon  his  own  resources  to  keep  from  starv 
ing.  Only  the  most  menial  occupations  were  open 
to  him ;  but  he  seems  to  have  done  his  best  with 
them.  How  the  neighbor-boys  would  have  laughed 
and  hooted  if  one  had  said  to  them  :  "  That  dirty, 
ragged  youngster  who  drives  his  pigs  through  the 
oak-groves  of  Estremadura  will  one  day  be  the 
greatest  man  in  a  new  world  which  no  one  has  yet 
seen,  and  will  be  a  more  famous  soldier  than  our 
Great  Captain,8  and  will  divide  more  gold  than  the 

1  Pronounced  Tvoo-heel-yo.       2  Pronounced  Pee-jvf/fc-roh. 
8  The  famous  European  campaigner,  De  Cordova. 


2O4 


THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


king  has  !  "  And  we  could  not  have  blamed  them 
for  their  sneers.  The  wisest  man  in  Europe  then 
would  have  believed  as  little  as  they  such  a  wild 
prophecy;  for  truly  it  was  the  most  improbable 
thing  in  the  world. 

But  the  boy  who  could  herd  swine  faithfully  when 
there  was  no  better  work  to  do,  could  turn  his  hand 
to  greater  things  when  greater  offered,  and  do  them 
as  well.  Luckily  the  New  World  came  just  in  time 
for  him.  If  it  had  not  been  for  Columbus,  he  might 
have  lived  and  died  a  swineherd,  and  history  would 
have  lost  one  of  its  most  gallant  figures,  as  well  as 
many  more  of  those  to  whom  the  adventurous  Geno 
ese  Opened  the  door  of  fame.  To  thousands  of 
men  as  undivined  by  themselves  as  by  others,  there 
was  then  nothing  to  see  in  life  but  abject  obscurity  in 
crowded,  ignorant,  poverty-stricken  Europe.  When 
Spain  suddenly  found  the  new  land  beyond  the  seas, 
it  caused  such  a  wakening  of  mankind  as  was 
never  before  nor  ever  has  been  since.  There  was, 
almost  literally,  a  new  world ;  and  it  made  almost  a 
new  people.  Not  merely  the  brilliant  and  the  great 
profited  by  this  wonderful  change  ;  there  was  none 
so  poor  and  ignorant  that  he  might  not  now  spring 
up  to  the  full  stature  of  the  man  that  was  in  him. 
It  was,  indeed,  the  greatest  beginning  of  human 
liberty,  the  first  opening  of  the  door  of  equality,  the 
first  seed  of  free  nations  like  our  own.  The  Old 
World  was  the  field  of  the  rich  and  favored ;  but 
America  was  already  what  it  is  so  proud  to  be  to-day, 
—  the  poor  man's  chance.  And  it  is  a  very  striking 


THE  SWINEHERD  OP    TRUXILLO.  205 

fact  that  nearly  all  who  made  great  names  in  Amer 
ica  were  not  of  those  who  came  great,  but  of  the 
obscure  men  who  won  here  the  admiration  of  a 
world  which  had  never  heard  of  them  before.  Oi 
all  these  and  of  all  others,  Pizarro  was  the  greatest 
pioneer.  The  rise  of  Napoleon  himself  was  not  a 
more  startling  triumph  of  will  and  genius  over  every 
obstacle,  nor  as  creditable  morally. 

We  do  not  know  the  year  in  which  Francisco 
Pizarro,  the  swineherd  of  Truxillo,  reached  America  ; 
but  his  first  importance  here  began  in  1510.  In 
that  year  he  was  already  in  the  island  of  Espafiola, 
and  accompanied  Ojeda1  on  the  disastrous  expedi 
tion  to  Uraba  on  the  mainland.  Here  he  showed 
himself  so  brave  and  prudent  that  Ojeda  left  him  in 
charge  of  the  ill-fated  colony  of  San  Sebastian, 
while  he  himself  should  return  to  Espanola  for  help. 
This  first  honorable  responsibility  which  fell  to 
Pizarro  was  full  of  danger  and  suffering;  but  he 
was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  in  him  began  to 
grow  that  rare  and  patient  heroism  which  was  later 
to  bear  him  up  through  the  most  dreadful  years  that 
ever  conqueror  had.  For  two  months  he  waited  in 
that  deadly  spot,  until  so  many  had  died  that  the  sur 
vivors  could  at  last  crowd  into  their  one  boat. 

Then  Pizarro  joined  Balboa,  and  shared  that 
frightful  march  across  the  Isthmus  and  that  brilliant 
honor  of  the  discovery  of  the  Pacific.  When  Bal 
boa's  gallant  career  came  to  a  sudden  and  bloody 
ending,  Pizarro  was  thrown  upon  the  hands  of  Pedro 
1  Pronounced  O-ydy-dah. 


206  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Arias  Davila,  who  sent  him  on  several  minor  expedi 
tions.  In  1515  he  crossed  the  Isthmus  again,  and 
probably  heard  vaguely  of  Peru.  But  he  had  nei 
ther  money  nor  influence  to  launch  out  for  himself. 
He  accompanied  Governor  Davila  when  that  offi 
cial  moved  to  Panama,  and  won  respect  in  several 
small  expeditions.  But  at  fifty  years  of  age  he  was 
still  a  poor  man  and  an  unknown  one,  —  an  humble 
ranchero  near  Panama.  On  that  pestilent  and  wild 
Isthmus  there  had  been  very  little  chance  to  make 
up  for  the  disadvantages  of  his  youth.  He  had  not 
learned  to  read  or  write,  —  indeed,  he  never  did 
learn.  But  it  is  evident  that  he  had  learned  some 
more  important  lessons,  and  had  developed  a  man 
hood  equal  to  any  call  the  future  might  make  upon  it. 
In  1522,  Pascual  de  Andag6ya  made  a  short 
voyage  from  Panama  down  the  Pacific  coast,  but 
got  no  farther  than  Balboa  had  gone  years  before. 
His  failure,  however,  called  new  attention  to  the  un 
known  countries  to  the  south ;  and  Pizarro  burned 
to  explore  them.  The  mind  of  the  man  who  had 
been  a  swineherd  was  the  only  one  that  grasped 
the  importance  of  what  awaited  discovery,  —  his 
courage,  the  only  courage  ready  to  face  the  obsta 
cles  that  lay  between.  At  last,  he  found  two  men 
ready  to  listen  to  his  plans  and  to  help  him.  These 
were  Diego  de  Almagro  l  and  Hernando  de  Luque.2 
Almagro  was  a  soldier  of  fortune,  a  foundling  like 
Pizarro,  but  better  educated  and  somewhat  older. 

1  Pronounced  Dee-#y-go  day  Al-ma/i-gro. 

2  Pronounced  Er-nan-do  day  Loo-kzy. 


THE  SWINEHERD   OF    TRUXILLO.  207 

He  was  a  brave  man  physically ;  but  he  lacked  the 
high  moral  courage  as  well  as  the  moral  power  of 
Pizarro.  He  was  in  every  way  a  lower  grade  of  man, 
—  more  what  would  have  been  expected  from  their 
common  birth  than  was  that  phenomenal  character 
which  was  as  much  at  home  in  courts  and  conquest 
as  it  had  been  in  herding  beasts.  Not  only  could 
Pizarro  accommodate  himself  to  any  range  of  for 
tune,  but  he  was  as  unspoiled  by  power  as  by 
poverty.  He  was  a  man  of  principle ;  a  man  of 
his  word  ;  inflexible,  heroic,  yet  prudent  and  hu 
mane,  generous  and  just,  and  forever  loyal,  —  in  all 
of  which  qualities  Almagro  fell  far  below  him. 

De  Luque  was  a  priest,  vicar  at  Panama.  He 
was  a  wise  and  good  man,  to  whom  the  two  soldiers 
were  greatly  indebted.  They  had  nothing  but  strong 
arms  and  big  courage  for  the  expedition ;  and  he 
had  to  furnish  the  means.  This  he  did  with  money 
he  secured  from  the  licentiate  Espinosa,  a  lawyer. 
The  consent  of  the  governor  was  necessary,  as  in  all 
Spanish  provinces  ;  and  though  Governor  Davila  did 
not  seem  to  approve  of  the  expedition,  his  permis 
sion  was  secured  by  promising  him  a  share  of  the 
profits,  while  he  was  not  called  upon  for  any  of 
the  expenses.  Pizarro  was  given  command,  and 
sailed  in  November,  1524,  with  one  hundred  men. 
Almagro  was  to  follow  as  soon  as  possible,  hoping 
to  recruit  more  men  in  the  little  colony. 

After  coasting  a  short  distance  to  the  south,  Pi 
zarro  effected  a  landing.  It  was  an  inhospitable 
spot.  The  explorers  found  themselves  in  a  vast, 


208  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

tropical  swamp,  where  progress  was  made  almost  im 
possible  by  the  morasses  and  by  the  dense  growth. 
The  miasma  of  the  marsh  brooded  everywhere, 
an  intangible  but  merciless  foe.  Clouds  of  veno 
mous  insects  hung  upon  them.  To  think  of  flies 
as  a  danger  to  life  is  strange  to  those  who  know 
only  the  temperate  zones ;  but  in  some  parts  of  the 
tropics  the  insects  are  more  dreadful  than  wolves. 
From  the  swamps  the  exhausted  Spaniards  strug 
gled  through  to  a  range  of  hills,  whose  sharp  rocks 
(lava,  very  likely)  cut  their  feet  to  the  bone.  And 
there  was  nothing  to  cheer  them  ;  all  was  the  same 
hopeless  wilderness.  They  toiled  back  to  their  rude 
brigantine,  fainting  under  the  tropic  heat,  and  re-em 
barked.  Taking  on  wood  and  water,  they  pursued 
their  course  south.  Then  came  savage  storms, 
which  lasted  ten  days.  Hurled  about  on  the  waves, 
their  crazy  little  vessel  barely  missed  falling  asun 
der.  Water  ran  short ;  and  as  for  food,  they  had  to 
live  on  two  ears  of  corn  apiece  daily.  As  soon  as 
the  weather  would  permit  they  put  to  a  landing,  but 
found  themselves  again  in  a  trackless  and  impenetra 
ble  forest.  These  strange,  vast  forests  of  the  tropics 
(  forests  as  big  as  the  whole  of  Europe)  are  Nature's 
most  forbidding  side ;  the  pathless  sea  and  the  des 
ert  plains  are  not  so  lonely  or  so  deadly.  Gigantic 
trees,  sometimes  much  more  than  a  hundred  feet  in 
circumference,  grow  thick  and  tall,  their  bases 
buried  in  eternal  gloom,  their  giant  columns  inter 
woven  with  mighty  vines,  so  that  it  is  no  longer  a 
forest  but  a  wall.  Every  step  must  be  won  by  the 


THE  SWINEHERD   OF    TRUX1LLO.  209 

axe.  Huge  and  hideous  snakes  and  great  saurians 
are  there  ;  and  in  the  hot,  damp  air  lurks  a  foe 
deadlier  than  python  or  alligator  or  viper,  —  the 
tropic  pestilence. 

The  men  were  no  weaklings,  but  in  this  dreadful 
wilderness  they  soon  lost  hope.  They  began  to 
curse  Pizarro  for  leading  them  only  to  a  miserable 
death,  and  clamored  to  sail  back  to  Panama.  But 
this  only  served  to  show  the  difference  between  men 
who  were  only  brave  physically  and  those  of  moral 
courage  like  Pizarro' s.  He  had  no  thought  of  giving 
up ;  yet  as  his  men  were  ripe  for  mutiny,  something 
must  be  done ;  and  he  did  a  very  bright  thing,  — 
one  of  the  small  first  flashes  of  that  genius  which 
danger  and  extremity  finally  developed  so  conspicu 
ously.  He  cheered  his  followers  even  while  he  was 
circumventing  their  mutiny.  Montenegro,  one  of 
the  officers,  was  sent  back  with  the  brigantine  and 
half  the  little  army  to  the  Isle  of  Pearls  for  supplies. 
That  kept  the  expedition  from  being  given  up. 
Pizarro  and  his  fifty  men  could  not  return  to  Pan 
ama,  for  they  had  no  boat;  and  Montenegro  and 
his  companions  could  not  well  fail  to  come  back 
with  succor.  But  it  was  a  bitter  waiting  for  relief. 
For  six  weeks  the  starving  Spaniards  floundered  in 
the  swamps,  from  which  they  could  find  no  exit. 
There  was  no  food  except  the  shellfish  they  picked 
up  and  a  few  berries,  some  of  which  proved  poison 
ous  and  caused  tortures  to  those  who  ate  them. 
Pizarro  shared  the  hardships  of  his  men  with  unself 
ish  gentleness,  dividing  with  the  poorest  soldier,  and 
H 


210  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

toiling  like  the  rest,  always  with  brave  words  to  cheer 
them  up.  More  than  twenty  men  —  nearly  half  the 
little  force  —  died  under  their  hardships ;  and  all 
the  survivors  lost  hope  save  the  stout-hearted  com 
mander.  When  they  were  almost  at  the  last  gasp,  a 
far  light  gleaming  through  the  forest  aroused  them ; 
and  forcing  their  way  in  that  direction  they  came 
at  last  to  open  ground,  where  was  an  Indian  village 
whose  corn  and  cocoanuts  saved  the  emaciated 
Spaniards.  These  Indians  had  a  few  rude  gold  orna 
ments,  and  told  of  a  rich  country  to  the  south. 

At  last  Montenegro  got  back  with  the  vessel  and 
supplies  to  Puerto  de  la  Hambre,  or  the  Port  of 
Hunger,  as  the  Spaniards  named  it.  He  too  had 
suffered  greatly  from  hunger,  having  been  delayed 
by  storms.  The  reunited  force  sailed  on  southward, 
and  presently  came  to  a  more  open  coast.  Here 
was  another  Indian  village.  Its  people  had  fled, 
but  the  explorers  found  food  and  some  gold  trinkets. 
They  were  horrified,  however,  at  discovering  that 
they  were  among  cannibals,  for  before  the  fireplaces 
human  legs  and  arms  were  roasting.  They  put  to 
sea  in  the  teeth  of  a  storm  sooner  than  remain  in 
so  repulsive  a  spot.  At  the  headland,  which  they 
named  Punta  Quemada,  —  the  Burnt  Cape,  —  they 
had  to  land  again,  their  poor  bark  being  so  strained 
that  it  was  in  great  danger  of  going  to  the  bottom. 
Montenegro  was  sent  inland  with  a  small  force  to 
explore,  while  Pizarro  camped  at  a  deserted  Indian 
rancheria.  The  lieutenant  had  penetrated  but  a 
few  miles  when  he  was  ambushed  by  the  savages, 


THE  SWINEHERD  OP   TRUXILLO.  211 

and  three  Spaniards  were  slain.  Montenegro's  men 
had  not  even  muskets ;  but  with  sword  and  cross 
bow  they  fought  hard,  and  at  last  drove  off  their 
dusky  foes.  The  Indians,  failing  there,  made  a 
rapid  march  back  to  their  village,  and  knowing  the 
paths  got  there  ahead  of  Montenegro  and  made  a 
sudden  attack.  Pizarro  led  his  little  company  out 
to  meet  them,  and  a  fierce  but  unequal  fight  began. 
The  Spaniards  were  at  great  odds,  and  their  case 
was  desperate.  In  the  first  volley  of  the  enemy, 
Pizarro  received  seven  wounds, — a  fact  which  in  itself 
is  enough  to  show  you  what  slight  advantage  their 
armor  gave  the  Spaniards  over  the  Indians,  while  it 
was  a  fearful  burden  in  the  tropic  heats  and  amid 
such  agile  foes.  The  Spaniards  had  to  give  way ; 
and  as  they  retreated,  Pizarro  slipped  and  fell.  The 
Indians,  readily  recognizing  that  he  was  the  chief, 
had  directed  their  special  efforts  to  slay  him ;  and 
now  several  sprang  upon  the  fallen  and  bleeding 
warrior.  But  Pizarro  struggled  up  and  struck  down 
two  of  them  with  supreme  strength,  and  fought  off 
the  rest  till  his  men  could  run  to  his  aid.  Then 
Montenegro  came  up  and  fell  upon  the  savages  from, 
behind,  and  soon  the  Spaniards  were  masters  of  the 
field.  But  it  had  been  dearly  bought,  and  their 
leader  saw  plainly  that  he  could  not  succeed  in 
that  savage  land  with  such  a  weak  force.  His  next 
step  must  be  to  get  reinforcements. 

He  accordingly  sailed  back  to  Chicama,  and  re 
maining  there  with  most  of  his  men,  —  again  care 
ful  not  to  give  them  a  chance  to  desert,  —  sent 


212  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

Nicolas  de  Ribera,  with  the  gold  so  far  collected  and 
a  full  account  of  their  doings,  to  Governor  Davila 
at  Panama. 

Meanwhile  Almagro,  after  long  delays,  had  sailed 
with  sixty  men  in  the  second  vessel  from  Panama 
to  follow  Pizarro.  He  found  the  "  track  "  by  trees 
Pizarro  had  marked  at  various  points,  according  to 
their  agreement.  At  Punta  Quemada  he  landed,  and 
the  Indians  gave  him  a  hostile  reception.  Almagro's 
blood  was  hot,  and  he  charged  upon  them  bravely. 
In  the  action,  an  Indian  javelin  wounded  him  so 
severely  in  the  head  that  after  a  few  days  of  intense 
suffering  he  lost  one  of  his  eyes.  But  despite  this 
great  misfortune  he  kept  on  his  voyage.  It  was  the 
one  admirable  side  of  the  man,  —  his  great  brute 
courage.  He  could  face  danger  and  pain  bravely ; 
but  in  a  very  few  days  he  proved  that  the  higher 
courage  was  lacking.  At  the  river  San  Juan  (St. 
John)  the  loneliness  and  uncertainty  were  too  much 
for  Almagro,  and  he  turned  back  toward  Panama. 
Fortunately,  he  learned  that  his  captain  was  at  Chi- 
cama,  and  there  joined  him.  Pizarro  had  no  thought 
of  abandoning  the  enterprise,  and  he  so  impressed 
Almagro  —  who  only  needed  to  be  led  to  be  ready 
for  any  daring  —  that  the  two  solemnly  vowed  to 
each  other  to  see  the  voyage  to  the  end  or  die  like 
men  in  trying.  Pizarro  sent  him  on  to  Panama  to 
work  for  help,  and  himself  stayed  to  cheer  his  men 
in  pestilent  Chicama. 

Governor  Davila,  at  best  an  unenterprising  and 
unadmirable  man,  was  just  now  in  a  particularly  bad 


THE  SWINEHERD  OF   TRUXILLO.  213 

humor  to  be  asked  for  help.  One  of  his  subordi 
nates  in  Nicaragua  needed  punishment,  he  thought, 
and  his  own  force  was  small  for  the  purpose.  He 
bitterly  regretted  having  allowed  Pizarro  to  go  off 
with  a  hundred  men  who  would  be  so  useful  now, 
and  refused  either  to  help  the  expedition  or  to  per 
mit  it  to  go  on.  De  Luque,  whose  calling  and  char 
acter  made  him  influential  in  the  little  colony,  finally 
persuaded  the  mean- hearted  governor  not  to  inter 
fere  with  the  expedition,  Even  here  Davila  showed 
his  nature.  As  the  price  of  his  official  consent,  — 
without  which  the  voyage  could  not  go  on,  —  he 
extorted  a  payment  of  a  thousand  pesos  de  oro,  for 
which  he  also  relinquished  all  his  claims  to  the  profits 
of  the  expedition,  which  he  felt  sure  would  amount 
to  little  or  nothing.  A  peso  de  oro,  or  "  dollar  of 
gold,"  had  about  the  intrinsic  value  of  our  dollar,  but 
was  then  really  worth  far  more.  In  those  days  of 
the  world  gold  was  far  scarcer  than  now,  and  there 
fore  had  much  more  purchasing  power.  The  same 
weight  of  gold  would  buy  about  five  times  as  much 
then  as  it  will  now;  so  what  was  called  a  dollar, 
and  weighed  a  dollar,  was  really  worth  about  five 
dollars.  The  "hush-money"  extorted  by  Davila 
was  therefore  some  $5,000. 

Fortunately,  about  this  time  Davila  was  super 
seded  by  a  new  governor  of  Panama,  Don  Pedro  de 
los  Rios,  who  opposed  no  further  obstacles  to  the 
great  plan.  A  new  contract  was  entered  into  be 
tween  Pizarro,  Almagro,  and  Luque,  dated  March  10, 
1526.  The  good  vicar  had  advanced  gold  bars  to 


214  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  amount  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the 
expedition ;  and  was  to  receive  one  third  of  all  the 
profits.  But  in  reality  most  of  this  large  sum  had 
come  from  the  licentiate  Espinosa;  and  a  private 
contract  insured  that  Luque's  share  should  be  turned 
over  to  him.  Two  new  vessels,  larger  and  better 
than  the  worn-out  brigantine  which  had  been  built 
by  Balboa,  were  purchased  and  filled  with  provisions. 
The  little  army  was  swelled  by  recruits  to  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  men,  and  even  a  few  horses  were 
secured  ;  and  the  second  expedition  was  ready. 


THE  MAN  WHO   WOULD  NOT  GIVE   UP.      215 

II. 

THE  MAN  WHO  WOULD  NOT  GIVE  UP. 

WITH  so  inadequate  a  force,  yet  much 
stronger  than  before,  Pizarro  and  Almagro 
sailed  again  on  their  dangerous  mission.  The  pilot 
was  Bartolome"  Ruiz,  a  brave  and  loyal  Andalusian 
and  a  good  sailor.  The  weather  was  better  now, 
and  the  adventurers  pushed  on  hopefully.  After  a 
few  days'  sail  they  reached  the  Rio  San  Juan,  which 
was  as  far  as  any  European  had  ever  sailed  down 
that  coast :  it  will  be  remembered  that  this  was  where 
Almagro  had  got  discouraged  and  turned  back.  Here 
were  more  Indian  settlements,  and  a  little  gold ;  but 
here  too  the  vastness  and  savagery  of  the  wilderness 
became  more  apparent.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  con 
ceive  at  all,  in  these  easy  days,  how  lost  these 
explorers  were.  Then  there  was  not  a  white  man 
in  all  the  world  who  knew  what  lay  beyond  them ; 
and  the  knowledge  of  something  somewhere  ahead 
is  the  most  necessary  prop  to  courage.  We  can 
understand  their  situation  only  by  supposing  a  band 
of  schoolboys  —  brave  boys  but  unlearned  —  carried 
blindfold  a  thousand  miles,  and  set  down  in  a  track 
less  wilderness  they  had  never  heard  of. 

Pizarro  halted  here  with  part  of  his  men,   and 
sent  Almagro  back  to  Panama  with  one  vessel  for 


2l6  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

recruits,  and  Pilot  Ruiz  south  with  the  other  to 
explore  the  coast.  Ruiz  coasted  southward  as  far  as 
Punta  de  Pasado,  and  was  the  first  white  man  who 
ever  crossed  the  equator  on  the  Pacific, —  no  small 
honor.  He  found  a  rather  more  promising  country, 
and  encountered  a  large  raft  with  cotton  sails,  on 
which  were  several  Indians.  They  had  mirrors 
(probably  of  volcanic  glass,  as  was  common  to  the 
southern  aborigines)  set  in  silver,  and  ornaments  of 
silver  and  gold,  besides  remarkable  cloths,  on  which 
were  woven  figures  of  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes.  The 
cruise  lasted  several  weeks ;  and  Ruiz  got  back  to 
the  San  Juan  barely  in  time.  Pizarro  and  his  men 
had  suffered  awful  hardships.  They  had  made  a 
gallant  effort  to  get  inland,  but  could  not  escape  the 
dreadful  tropical  forest,  "  whose  trees  grew  to  the 
sky."  The  dense  growth  was  not  so  lonely  as  their 
earlier  forests.  There  were  troops  of  chattering 
monkeys  and  brilliant  parrots;  around  the  huge 
trees  coiled  lazy  boas,  and  alligators  dozed  by  the 
sluggish  lagoons.  Many  of  the  Spaniards  perished 
by  these  grim,  strange  foes ;  some  were  crushed  to 
pulp  in  the  mighty  coils  of  the  snakes,  and  some 
were  crunched  between  the  teeth  of  the  scaly  sau- 
rians.  Many  more  fell  victims  to  lurking  savages ; 
in  a  single  swoop  fourteen  of  the  dwindling  band 
were  slain  by  Indians,  who  surrounded  their  stranded 
canoe.  Food  gave  out  too,  and  the  survivors  were 
starving  when  Ruiz  got  back  with  a  scant  relief  but 
cheering  news.  Very  soon  too  Almagro  arrived, 
with  supplies  and  a  reinforcement  of  eighty  men. 


THE  MAN   WHO    WOULD  NOT  GIVE    UP.      217 

The  whole  expedition  set  sail  again  for  the  south. 
But  at  once  there  rose  persistent  storms.  After 
great  suffering  the  explorers  got  back  to  the  Isle  of 
Gallo,  where  they  stayed  two  weeks  to  repair  their 
disabled  vessels  and  as  badly  shattered  bodies. 
Then  they  sailed  on  again  down  the  unknown  seas. 
The  country  was  gradually  improving.  The  malarial 
tropic  forests  no  longer  extended  into  the  very  sea. 
Amid  the  groves  of  ebony  and  mahogany  were 
occasional  clearings,  with  rudely  cultivated  fields, 
and  also  Indian  settlements  of  considerable  size.  In 
this  region  were  gold-washings  and  emerald-mines, 
and  the  natives  had  some  valuable  ornaments.  The 
Spaniards  landed,  but  were  set  upon  by  a  vastly 
superior  number  of  savages,  and  escaped  destruction 
only  in  a  very  curious  way.  In  the  uneven  battle 
the  Spaniards  were  sorely  pressed,  when  one  of  their 
number  fell  from  his  horse ;  and  this  trivial  incident 
put  the  swarming  savages  to  flight.  Some  historians 
have  ridiculed  the  idea  that  such  a  trifle  could  have 
had  such  an  effect;  but  that  is  merely  because  of 
ignorance  of  the  facts.  You  must  remember  that 
these  Indians  had  never  before  seen  a  horse.  The 
Spanish  rider  and  his  steed  they  took  for  one  huge 
animal,  strange  and  fearful  enough  at  best,  —  a 
parallel  to  the  old  Greek  myth  of  the  Centaurs,  and 
a  token  of  the  manner  in  which  that  myth  began. 
But  when  this  great  unknown  beast  divided  itself 
into  two  parts,  which  were  able  to  act  independently 
of  each  other,  it  was  too  much  for  the  superstitious 
Indians,  and  they  fled  in  terror.  The  Spaniards 


2l8  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

escaped  to  their  vessels,  and  gave  thanks  for  their 
strange  deliverance. 

But  this  narrow  escape  had  shown  more  clearly 
how  inadequate  their  handful  of  men  was  to  cope 
with  the  wild  hordes.  They  must  again  have  rein 
forcements;  and  back  they  sailed  to  the  Isle  of 
Gallo,  where  Pizarro  was  to  wait  while  Almagro 
went  to  Panama  for  help.  You  see  Pizarro  always 
took  the  heaviest  and  hardest  burden  for  himself, 
and  gave  the  easiest  to  his  associate.  It  was  always 
Almagro  who  was  sent  back  to  the  comforts  of  civ 
ilization,  while  his  lion-hearted  leader  bore  the 
waiting  and  danger  and  suffering.  The  greatest 
obstacle  all  along  now  was  in  the  soldiers  them 
selves,  —  and  I  say  this  with  a  full  realization  of 
the  deadly  perils  and  enormous  hardships.  But 
perils  and  hardships  without  are  to  be  borne  more 
easily  than  treachery  and  discontent  within.  At 
every  step  Pizarro  had  to  carry  his  men,  —  morally. 
They  were  constantly  discouraged  (for  which  they 
surely  had  enough  reason)  ;  and  when  discouraged 
they  were  ready  for  any  desperate  act,  except  going 
ahead.  So  Pizarro  had  constantly  to  be  will  and 
courage  not  only  for  himself,  who  suffered  as  cruelly 
as  the  meanest,  but  for  all.  It  was  like  the  stout 
soul  we  sometimes  see  holding  up  a  half-dead  body, 
—  a  body  that  would  long  ago  have  broken  loose 
from  a  less  intrepid  spirit. 

The  men  were  now  mutinous  again ;  and  despite 
Pizarro's  gallant  example  and  efforts,  they  came 
very  near  wrecking  the  whole  enterprise.  They 


THE  MAN   WHO   WOULD  NOT  GIVE   UP.    219 

sent  by  Almagro  to  the  governor's  wife  a  ball  of 
cotton  as  a  sample  of  the  products  of  the  country ; 
but  in  this  apparently  harmless  present  the  cowards 
had  hidden  a  letter,  in  which  they  declared  that 
Pizarro  was  leading  them  only  to  death,  and  warned 
others  not  to  follow.  A  doggerel  verse  at  the  end 
set  forth  that  Pizarro  was  a  butcher  waiting  for  more 
meat,  and  that  Almagro  went  to  Panama  to  gather 
sheep  to  be  slaughtered. 

The  letter  reached  Governor  de  los  Rios,  and 
made  him  very  indignant.  He  sent  the  Cordovan 
Tafur  with  two  vessels  to  the  Isle  of  Gallo  to  bring 
back  every  Spaniard  there,  and  thus  stop  an  expedi 
tion  the  importance  of  which  his  mind  could  not 
grasp.  Pizarro  and  his  men  were  suffering  terribly, 
always  drenched  by  the  storms,  and  nearly  starving. 
When  Tafur  arrived,  all  but  Pizarro  hailed  him  as 
a  deliverer,  and  wanted  to  go  home  at  once.  But 
the  captain  was  not  daunted.  With  his  dagger  he 
drew  a  line  upon  the  sands,  and  looking  his  men  in 
the  face,  said  :  "  Comrades  and  friends,  on  that  side 
are  death,  hardship,  starvation,  nakedness,  storms ; 
on  this  side  is  comfort.  From  this  side  you  go  to 
Panama  to  be  poor;  from  that  side  to  Peru  to  be 
rich.  Choose,  each  who  is  a  brave  Castilian,  that 
which  he  thinks  best." 

As  he  spoke  he  stepped  across  the  line  to  the 
south.  Ruiz,  the  brave  Andalusian  pilot,  stepped 
after  him ;  and  so  did  Pedro  de  Candia,  the  Greek, 
and  one  after  another  eleven  more  heroes,  whose 
names  deserve  to  be  remembered  by  all  who  love 


220  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

loyalty  and  courage.  They  were  Crist6val  de  Peralta, 
Domingo  de  Soria  Luce,  Nicolas  de  Ribera,  Fran 
cisco  de  Cuellar,  Alonso  de  Molina,  Pedro  Alcon, 
Garcia  de  Jerez,  Anton  de  Carrion,  Alonso  Briceno, 
Martin  de  Paz,  and  Juan  de  la  Torre. 

The  narrow  Tafur  could  see  in  this  heroism  only 
disobedience  to  the  governor,  and  would  not  leave 
them  one  of  his  vessels.  It  was  with  difficulty  that 
he  was  prevailed  upon  to  give  them  a  few  provisions, 
even  to  keep  them  from  immediate  starvation ;  and 
with  his  cowardly  passengers  he  sailed  back  to  Pan 
ama,  leaving  the  fourteen  alone  upon  their  little 
island  in  the  unknown  Pacific. 

Did  you  ever  know  of  a  more  remarkable  hero 
ism?  Alone,  imprisoned  by  the  great  sea,  with 
very  little  food,  no  boat,  no  clothing,  almost  no 
weapons,  here  were  fourteen  men  still  bent  on  con 
quering  a  savage  country  as  big  as  Europe  !  Even 
the  prejudiced  Prescott  admits  that  in  all  the  annals 
of  chivalry  there  is  nothing  to  surpass  this. 

The  Isle  of  Gallo  became  uninhabitable,  and 
Pizarro  and  his  men  made  a  frail  raft  and  sailed 
north  seventy-five  miles  to  the  Isle  of  Gorgona. 
This  was  higher  land,  and  had  some  timber,  and  the 
explorers  made  rude  huts  for  shelter  from  the  storms. 
Their  sufferings  were  great  from  hunger,  exposure, 
and  venomous  creatures  which  tortured  them  relent 
lessly.  Pizarro  kept  up  daily  religious  services,  and 
every  day  they  thanked  God  for  their  preservation, 
and  prayed  for  his  continued  protection.  Pizarro 
was  always  a  devout  man,  and  never  thought  of  act- 


THE  MAN  WHO    WOULD  NOT  GIVE   UP.     221 

ing  without  invoking  divine  help,  nor  of  neglecting 
thanks  for  his  successes.  It  was  so  to  the  last,  and 
even  with  his  last  gasp  his  dying  fingers  traced  the 
cross  he  revered. 

For  seven  indescribable  months  the  fourteen  de 
serted  men  waited  and  suffered  on  their  lonely  reef. 
Tafur  had  reached  Panama  safely,  and  reported  their 
refusal  to  return.  Governor  de  los  Rios  grew  angrier 
yet,  and  refused  to  help  the  obstinate  castaways.  But 
De  Luque,  reminding  him  that  his  orders  from  the 
Crown  commanded  assistance  to  Pizarro,  at  last  in 
duced  the  niggard  governor  to  allow  a  vessel  to  be 
sent  with  barely  enough  sailors  to  man  it,  and  a  small 
stock  of  provisions.  But  with  it  went  strict  orders 
to  Pizarro  to  return,  and  report  at  the  end  of  six 
months,  no  matter  what  happened.  The  rescuers 
found  the  brave  fourteen  on  the  Isle  of  Gorgona ; 
and  Pizarro  was  at  last  enabled  to  resume  his  voyage, 
with  a  few  sailors  and  an  army  of  eleven.  Two  of 
the  fourteen  were  so  sick  that  they  had  to  be  left  on 
the  island  in  the  care  of  friendly  Indians,  and  with 
heavy  hearts  their  comrades  bade  them  farewell. 

Pizarro  sailed  on  south.  Soon  they  passed  the 
farthest  point  a  European  had  ever  reached,  —  Punta 
de  Pasado,  which  was  the  limit  of  Ruiz's  explorations, 
—  and  were  again  in  unknown  seas.  After  twenty 
days'  sail  they  entered  the  Gulf  of  Guayaquil,  in 
Ecuador,  and  anchored  in  the  Bay  of  Tumbez. 
Before  them  they  saw  a  large  Indian  town  with  per 
manent  houses.  The  blue  bay  was  dotted  with 
Indian  sail- rafts ;  and  far  in  the  background  loomed 


222  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  giant  peaks  of  the  Andes.  We  may  imagine  how 
the  Spaniards  were  impressed  by  their  first  sight  of 
mountains  that  rose  more  than  twenty  thousand  feet 
above  them. 

The  Indians  came  out  on  their  balsas  (rafts)  to 
look  at  these  marvellous  strangers,  and  being  treated 
with  the  utmost  kindness  and  consideration,  soon  lost 
their  fears.  The  Spaniards  were  given  presents  of 
chickens,  swine,  and  trinkets,  and  had  brought  to 
them  bananas,  corn,  sweet  potatoes,  pineapples,  co- 
coanuts,  game,  and  fish.  You  may  be  sure  these 
dainties  were  more  than  welcome  to  the  gaunt  ex 
plorers  after  so  many  starving  months.  The  Indians 
also  brought  aboard  several  llamas,  —  the  character 
istic  and  most  valuable  quadruped  of  South  America. 
The  fascinating  but  misled  historian  who  has  done 
more  than  any  other  one  man  in  the  United  States  to 
spread  an  interesting  but  absolutely  false  idea  of  Peru, 
calls  the  llama  the  Peruvian  sheep  ;  but  it  is  no  more 
a  sheep  than  a  giraffe  is.  •  The  llama  is  the  South 
American  camel  (a  true  camel,  though  a  small  one), 
the  beast  of  burden  whose  slow,  sure  feet  and  patient 
back  have  made  it  possible  for  man  to  subdue  a 
country  so  mountainous  in  parts  as  to  make  horses 
useless.  Besides  being  a  carrier  it  is  a  producer  of 
clothing ;  it  supplies  the  camel's  hair  which  is  woven 
into  the  woollen  garments  of  the  people.  There 
were  three  other  kinds  of  camel,  —  the  vicuna,  the 
guanaco,  and  the  alpaca,  —  all  small,  and  all  vari 
ously  prized  for  their  hair,  which  still  surpasses  the 
wool  of  the  best  sheep  for  making  fine  fabrics.  The 


THE  MAN   WHO    WOULD  NOT  GIVE   UP.     223 

Peruvians  domesticated  the  llama  in  large  flocks, 
and  it  was  their  most  important  helper.  They  were 
the  only  aborigines  in  the  two  Americas  who  had  a 
beast  of  burden  before  the  Europeans  came,  except 
the  Apaches  of  the  Plains  and  the  Eskimos,  both  of 
whom  had  the  dog  and  the  sledge. 

At  Tumbez,  Alonso  de  Molina  was  sent  ashore  to 
look  at  the  town.  He  came  back  with  such  gorgeous 
reports  of  gilded  temples  and  great  forts  that  Pizarro 
distrusted  him,  and  sent  Pedro  de  Candia.  This 
Greek,  a  na 
tive  of  the 
Isle  of  Can 
dia,  was  a 
man  of  im- 
portance  in 

the  little  Spanish  force.  The  Greeks  everywhere 
were  then  regarded  as  a  people  adept  in  the  still 
mysterious  weapons ;  and  all  Europe  had  a  respect 
for  those  who  had  invented  that  wonderful  agent 
"Greek  fire,"  which  would  burn  under  water,  and 
which  no  man  now-a-days  knows  how  to  make. 
The  Greeks  were  generally  known  as  "fire- workers," 
and  were  in  great  demand  as  masters  of  artillery. 

De  Candia  went  ashore  with  his  armor  and  arque- 
buse,  both  of  which  astounded  the  natives;  and 
when  he  set  up  a  plank  and  shivered  it  with  a  ball, 
they  were  overwhelmed  at  the  strange  noise  and  its 
result.  Candia  brought  back  as  glowing  reports  as 
Molina  had  done  ;  and  the  tattered  Spaniards  began 
to  feel  that  at  last  their  golden  dreams  were  coming 


224  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

true,  and  took  heart  again.  Pizarro  gently  declined 
the  gifts  of  gold  and  silver  and  pearls  which  the  awe 
struck  natives  offered,  and  turned  his  face  again  to 
the  south,  sailing  as  far  as  about  the  ninth  degree 
of  south  latitude.  Then,  feeling  that  he  had  seen 
enough  to  warrant  going  back  for  reinforcements, 
he  stood  about  for  Panama.  Alonso  de  Molina  and 
one  companion  were  left  in  Tumbez  at  their  own  re 
quest,  being  much  in  love  with  the  country.  Pizarro 
took  back  in  their  places  two  Indian  youth,  to  learn 
the  Spanish  language.  One  of  them,  who  was  given 
the  name  of  Felipillo  (little  Philip)  afterward  cut 
an  important  and  discreditable  figure.  The  voyagers 
stopped  at  the  Isle  of  Gorgona  for  their  two  coun 
trymen  who  had  been  left  there  sick.  One  was  dead, 
but  the  other  gladly  rejoined  his  compassionate  com 
rades.  And  so,  with  his  dozen  men,  Pizarro  came 
back  to  Panama  after  an  absence  of  eighteen  months, 
into  which  had  been  crowded  the  sufferings  and 
horrors  of  a  lifetime. 


GAINING  GROUND.  225 


III. 

GAINING   GROUND. 

GOVERNOR  DE  LOS  RIOS  was  not  impressed 
by  the  heroism  of  the  little  party,  and  refused 
them  aid.  The  case  seemed  hopeless;  but  the 
leader  was  not  to  be  crushed.  He  decided  to  go 
to  Spain  in  person,  and  appeal  to  his  king.  It  was 
one  of  his  most  remarkable  undertakings,  it  seems 
to  me.  For  this  man,  whose  boyhood  had  been 
passed  with  swine,  and  who  in  manhood  had  been 
herding  rude  men  far  more  dangerous,  who  was 
ignorant  of  books  and  unversed  in  courts,  to  present 
himself  confidently  yet  modestly  at  the  dazzling  and 
punctilious  court  of  Spain,  showed  another  side  of 
his  high  courage.  It  was  very  much  as  if  a  London 
chimney-sweep  were  to  go  to-morrow  to  ask  audi 
ence  and  favors  of  Queen  Victoria. 

But  Pizarro  was  equal  to  this,  as  to  all  the  other 
crises  of  his  life,  and  acquitted  himself  as  gallantly. 
He  was  still  tattered  and  penniless,  but  De  Luque 
collected  for  him  fifteen  hundred  ducats ;  and  in  the 
spring  of  1528  Pizarro  sailed  for  Spain.  He  took 
with  him  Pedro  de  Candia  and  some  Peruvians,  with 
some  llamas,  some  beautifully-woven  Indian  cloths, 
and  a  few  trinkets  and  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  to 
15 


226  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

corroborate  his  story.  He  reached  Seville  in  the 
summer,  and  was  at  once  thrown  into  jail  by  Enciso 
under  the  cruel  old  law,  long  prevalent  in  all  civilized 
countries,  allowing  imprisonment  for  debt.  His 
story  soon  got  abroad,  and  he  was  released  by  order 
of  the  Crown  and  summoned  to  court.  Standing 
before  the  brilliant  Charles  V.,  the  unlettered  soldier 
told  his  story  so  modestly,  so  manfully,  so  clearly, 
that  Charles  shed  tears  at  the  recital  of  such 
awful  sufferings,  and  warmed  to  such  heroic  stead 
fastness. 

The  king  was  just  about  to  embark  for  Italy  on  an 
important  mission ;  but  his  heart  was  won,  and  he 
left  Pizarro  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies  with  recom 
mendation  to  help  the  enterprise.  That  wise  but 
ponderous  body  moved  slowly,  as  men  learned  only 
in  books  and  theories  are  apt  to  move ;  and  delay 
was  dangerous.  At  last  the  queen  took  up  the 
matter,  and  on  the  26th  of  July,  1529,  signed  with 
her  own  royal  hand  the  precious  document  which 
made  possible  one  of  the  greatest  conquests,  and 
one  of  the  most  gallant,  in  human  history.  America 
owes  a  great  deal  to  the  brave  queens  of  Spain  as 
well  as  to  its  kings.  We  remember  what  Isabella 
had  done  for  the  discovery  of  the  New  World; 
and  now  Charles's  consort  had  as  creditable  a  hand 
in  its  most  exciting  chapter. 

The  capitulation,  or  contract,  in  which  two  such 
strangely  different  "  parties  "  were  set  side  by  side  — 
one  signing  boldly  Yo  la  Reina  ("I  the  Queen"  ), 
and  the  other  following  with  "Francisco  [X]  Pizarro, 


GAINING  GROUND.  227 

his  mark" — was  the  basis  of  Pizarro's  fortunes. 
The  man  who  had  been  sneered  at  and  neglected  by 
narrow  minds  that  had  constantly  hindered  his  one 
great  hope,  now  had  won  the  interest  and  support 
of  his  sovereigns  and  their  promise  of  a  magnificent 
reward,  — of  which  latter  we  may  be  sure  a  man  of 
his  calibre  thought  less  than  of  the  chance  to  realize 
his  dream  of  discovery.  Followers  he  had  to  bait 
with  golden  hopes ;  and  for  that  matter  it  was  but 
natural  and  right 
that  after  more  than 
fifty  years  of  pover 
ty  and  deprivation 
he  should  also  think 
somewhat  of  com 
fort  and  wealth  for 

Autograph  of  Francisco  Pizarro. 

himself.       But    no 

man  ever  did  or  ever  will  do  from  mere  sordidness 
such  a  feat  as  Pizarro's.  Such  successes  can  be 
won  only  by  higher  minds  with  higher  aims ;  and 
it  is  certain  that- Pizarro's  chief  ambition  was  for  a 
nobler  and  more  enduring  thing  than  gold. 

The  contract  with  the  Crown  gave  to  Francisco 
Pizarro  the  right  to  find  and  make  a  Spanish  empire 
of  the  country  of  New  Castile,  which  was  the  name 
given  to  Peru.  He  had  leave  "  to  explore,  conquer, 
pacify,  and  colonize  "  the  land  from  Santiago  to  a 
point  two  hundred  leagues  south ;  and  of  this  vast 
and  unknown  new  province  he  was  to  be  governor 
and  captain-general,  —  the  highest  military  rank. 
He  was  also  to  bear  the  titles  of  adelantado  and 


228  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

alguacil-mayor  for  life,  with  a  salary  of  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  maravedis  (about  $2,000) 
a  year.  Almagro  was  to  be  commander  of  Tum- 
bez,  with  an  annual  rental  of  three  hundred  thou 
sand  maravedis  and  the  rank  of  hidalgo.  Good 
Father  Luque  was  made  Bishop  of  Tumbez  and 
Protector  of  the  Indians,  with  one  thousand  ducats 
a  year.  Ruiz  was  made  Grand  Pilot  of  the  South 
Seas ;  Candia,  commander  of  the  artillery ;  and  the 
eleven  others  who  had  stood  so  bravely  by  Pizarro 
on  the  lonely  isle  were  all  made  hidalgos. 

In  return,  Pizarro  was  required  to  pledge  himself 
to  observe  the  noble  Spanish  laws  for  the  government, 
protection,  and  education  of  the  Indians,  and  to  take 
with  him  priests  expressly  to  convert  the  savages  to 
Christianity.  He  was  also  to  raise  a  force  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  in  six  months,  and  equip 
them  well,  the  Crown  giving  a  little  help ;  and  within 
six  months  after  reaching  Panama,  he  must  get  his 
expedition  started  for  Peru.  He  was  also  invested 
with  the  Order  of  Santiago  ;  and  thus  suddenly  raised 
to  the  proud  knighthood  of  Spain  he  was  allowed 
to  add  the  royal  arms  to  those  of  the  Pizarros,  with 
other  emblems  commemorative  of  his  exploits,  —  an 
Indian  town,  with  a  vessel  in  the  bay,  and  the  little 
camel  of  Peru.  This  was  a  startling  and  significant 
array  of  honors,  hard  to  be  comprehended  by  those 
used  only  to  republican  institutions.  It  swept  away 
forever  the  disgrace  of  Pizarro's  birth,  and  gave 
him  an  unsullied  place  among  the  noblest.  It  is 
doubly  important  in  that  it  shows  that  the  Span- 


GAINING  GROUND.  229 

ish  Crown  thus  recognized  the  rank  of  Pizarro 
in  American  conquest.  Cortez  never  earned  and 
never  received  such  distinction. 

This  division  of  the  honors  led  to  very  serious 
trouble.  Almagro  never  forgave  Pizarro  for  coming 
out  a  greater  man  than  he,  and  charged  him  with 
selfishly  and  treacherously  seeking  the  best  for  him 
self.  Some  historians  have  sided  with  Almagro; 
but  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  Pizarro 
acted  straightforwardly  and  with  truth.  As  he  ex 
plained,  he  made  every  effort  to  induce  the  Crown 
to  give  equal  honors  to  Almagro ;  but  the  Crown 
refused.  Pizarro's  word  aside,  it  was  merely  po 
litical  common-sense  for  the  Crown  to  refuse  such 
a  request.  Two  leaders  anywhere  are  a  danger; 
and  Spain  already  had  had  too  bitter  experience 
with  this  same  thing  in  America  to  care  to 
repeat  it.  It  was  willing  to  give  all  honor  and 
encouragement  to  the  arms;  but  there  must  be 
only  one  head,  and  that  head,  of  course,  could 
be  none  but  Pizarro.  And  certainly  any  one  who 
looks  at  the  mental  and  moral  difference  between 
the  two  men,  and  what  were  their  actions  and 
results  both  before  and  after  the  royal  grant,  will 
concede  that  the  Spanish  Crown  made  a  most 
liberal  estimate  for  Almagro,  and  gave  him  certainly 
quite  as  much  as  he  was  worth.  In  the  whole  con 
tract  there  is  circumstantial  evidence  that  Pizarro 
did  his  best  in  behalf  of  his  associate,  —  the  ungrate 
ful  and  afterward  traitorous  Almagro, — an  evidence 
mightily  corroborated  by  Pizarro's  long  patience  and 


330  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

clemency  toward  his  vulgar,  ignoble,  and  constantly 
deteriorating  comrade.  Pizarro  had  the  head  that 
fate  could  not  turn.  He  was  neither  crushed  by 
adversity,  nor,  rarer  yet,  spoiled  by  the  most  dazzling 
success,  —  wherein  he  rose  superior  to  the  greater 
genius,  but  less  noble  man,  Napoleon.  When  raised 
from  lifelong,  abject  poverty  to  the  highest  pinnacle 
of  wealth  and  fame,  Pizarro  remained  the  same 
quiet,  modest,  God-fearing  and  God-thanking,  pru 
dent,  heroic  man.  Success  only  intensified  Almagro's 
base  nature,  and  his  end  was  ignominious. 

Having  secured  his  contract  with  the  Crown, 
Pizarro  felt  a  longing  to  see  the  scenes  of  his  boy 
hood.  Unhappy  as  they  had  been,  there  was  a 
manly  satisfaction  in  going  back  to  look  upon  these 
places.  So  the  ragged  boy  who  had  left  his  pigs  at 
Truxillo,  came  back  now  a  knighted  hero  with  gray 
hair  and  undying  fame.  I  do  not  believe  it  was  for 
the  sake  of  vain  display  before  those  who  might 
remember  him.  That  was  nowhere  in  the  nature 
of  Pizarro.  He  never  exhibited  vanity  or  pride. 
He  was  of  the  same  broad,  modest,  noble  gauge 
as  gallant  Crook,  the  greatest  and  best  of  our 
Indian  conquerors,  who  was  never  so  content  as 
when  he  could  move  about  among  his  troops  with 
out  a  mark  in  dress  or  manner  to  show  that  he  was 
a  major-general  of  the  United  States  army  rather 
than  some  poor  scout  or  hunter.  No ;  it  was  the 
man  in  him  that  took  Pizarro  back  to  Truxillo,  —  or 
perhaps  a  touch  of  the  boy  that  is  always  left  in  such 
great  hearts.  Of  course  the  people  were  glad  to 


GAINING  GROUND.  231 

honor  the  hero  of  such  a  fairy  tale  as  his  sober  story 
makes ;  but  I  am  sure  that  the  brilliant  general  was 
glad  to  escape  sometimes  from  the  visitors,  and  get 
out  among  the  hillsides  where  he  had  driven  his 
pigs  so  many  years  before,  and  see  the  same 
old  trees  and  brooklets,  and  even,  no  doubt,  the 
same  ragged,  ignorant  boy  still  herding  the  noisy 
porkers.  He  might  well  have  pinched  himself  to 
see  if  he  were  really  awake ;  whether  that  were  not 
the  real  Francisco  Pizarro  over  yonder,  still  in  his 
rags  tending  the  same  old  swine,  and  this  gray, 
famous,  travelled,  honored  knight  only  a  dream  like 
the  years  between  them.  And  he  was  the  very  man 
who,  finding  himself  awake,  would  have  gone  over 
to  the  ragged  herder  and  sat  down  beside  him  upon 
the  sward  with  a  gentle  Como  lo  va,  amigo  ? — "  How 
goes  it,  friend?"  And  when  the  wondering  and 
frightened  lad  stammered  or  tried  to  run  away  from 
the  first  great  personage  that  had  ever  spoken  to 
him,  Pizarro  would  talk  so  kindly  and  of  such  won 
derful  things  that  the  poor  herder  would  look  upon 
him  with  that  hero-worship  which  is  one  of  the 
purest  and  most  helpful  impulses  in  all  our  nature, 
and  wonder  if  he  too  might  not  sometime  be  some 
what  like  this  splendid,  quiet  man  who  said,  "  Yes, 
my  boy,  I  used  to  herd  pigs  right  here."  The  more 
I  think  of  it,  from  what  we  know  of  Pizarro,  the  surer 
I  am  that  he  really  did  look  up  the  old  pastures  and 
the  swine  and  their  ignorant  keepers,  and  talked  with 
them  simply  and  gently,  and  left  in  them  the  resolve 
to  try  for  better  things. 


232  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

But  the  interest  which  everywhere  centred  upon 
Pizarro  did  not  bring  in  recruits  to  his  banner  as 
fast  as  could  be  desired.  Most  people  would  much 
rather  admire  the  hero  than  become  heroes  at  the 
cost  of  similar  suffering.  Among  those  who  joined 
him  were  his  brothers,  Hernando,  Gonzalo,  and  Juan, 

who  were  to  figure  promi- 
nently  m  tne  New  World, 
though  until  now  they 
had  never  been  heard  of. 
Hernando,  the  eldest  of 

Autograph  of  Hernando  Pizarro.     ^  brQthers?  wag  ^  Qnly 

legitimate  son,  and  was  much  better  educated.  But 
he  was  also  the  worst ;  and  being  without  the  strict 
principles  of  Francisco  made  a  sorry  mark  in  the 
end.  Juan  was  a  sympathetic  figure,  and  distin 
guished  himself  by  his  great  manliness  and  cour 
age  before  he  came  to  an  untimely  end.  Gonzalo 
was  a  genuine  knight- 
errant,  fearless,  gen 
erous,  and  chivalric,  Yf-rr*  (T  i3  (  C 
beloved  alike  in  the  X/  ^J " 
New  World  by  the  sol- 

Autograph  of  Juan  Pizarro. 

diers  he  led  and  the 

Indians  he  conquered.  He  made  one  of  the  most 
incredible  marches  in  all  history,  and  would  have  won 
a  great  name,  probably,  had  not  the  death  of  his 
guide-brother  Francisco  thrown  him  into  the  power 
of  evil  counsellors  like  the  scoundrel  Carabajal  and 
others,  who  led  and  pushed  him  to  ruin.  But  while 
none  of  the  brothers  were  wicked  men,  nor  cow- 


GAINING  GROUND.  233 

ards,  nor  fools,  there  was  none  like  Francisco.  He 
was  one  of  the  rare  types  of  whom  but  a  few  have 
been  scattered,  far  apart,  up  and  down  the  world's 
path.  He  had  not  only  the  qualities  which  make 
heroes  and  which  are  very  common,  fortunately  for 
us,  but  with  them  the  insight  and  the  unfaltering 
aim  of  genius.  Less  than  Napoleon  in  insight, 
because  less  learned,  fully  as  great  in  resolve  and 
greater  in  principle,  he  was  one  of  the  prominent 
men  of  all  time. 

But  the  six  months  were  up,  and  he  still  lacked 
something  of  the  necessary  two  hundred  and  fifty 
recruits.  The  Council  was  about  to  inspect  his 
expedition,  and  Pizarro,  fearing  that  the  strict  letter 
of  the  law  might  now  prevent  the  consummation  of 
his  great  plans  just  for  the  want  of  a  few  men,  and 
growing  desperate  at  the  thought  of  further  delay, 
waited  no  longer  for  official  leave,  but  slipped  his 
cable  and  put  to  sea  secretly  in  January,  1530.  It 
was  not  exactly  the  handsomest  course  to  take,  but 
he  felt  that  too  much  was  at  stake  to  be  risked  on 
a  mere  technicality,  and  that  he  was  keeping  the 
spirit  if  not  the  letter  of  the  law.  The  Crown  evi 
dently  looked  upon  the  matter  in  the  same  light,  for 
he  was  neither  brought  back  nor  punished.  After  a 
tedious  voyage  he  got  safely  to  Santa  Marta.  Here 
his  new  soldiers  were  aghast  at  hearing  of  the  great 
snakes  and  alligators  to  be  encountered,  and  a  con 
siderable  number  of  the  weaker  spirits  deserted. 
Almagro,  too,  began  an  uproar,  declaring  that 
Pizarro  had  robbed  him  of  his  rightful  honors ;  but 


234  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

De  Luque  and  Espinosa  pacified  the  quarrel,  helped 
by  the  generous  spirit  of  Pizarro.  He  agreed  to 
make  Almagro  the  adelantado,  and  to  ask  the  Crown 
to  confirm  the  appointment.  He  also  promised  to 
provide  for  him  before  he  did  for  his  own  brothers. 

Early  in  January,  1531,  Francisco  Pizarro  sailed 
from  Panama  on  his  third  and  last  voyage  to  the 
south.  He  had  in  his  three  vessels  one  hundred 
and  eighty  men  and  twenty-seven  horses.  That 
was  not  an  imposing  army,  truly,  to  explore  and 
conquer  a  great  country ;  but  it  was  all  he  could  get, 
and  Pizarro  was  bound  to  try.  He  made  the  real 
conquest  of  Peru  with  a  handful  of  rough  heroes; 
indeed,  he  would  certainly  have  tried,  and  very 
possibly  would  have  succeeded  in  the  vast  under 
taking,  if  he  had  had  but  fifty  soldiers ;  for  it  was 
very  much  more  the  one  man  who  conquered  Peru 
than  his  one  hundred  and  eighty  followers.  Almagro 
was  again  left  behind  at  Panama  to  try  to  drum  up 
recruits. 

Pizarro  intended  to  sail  straight  to  Tumbez,  and 
there  effect  his  landing ;  but  storms  beat  back  the 
weak  ships,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  change  his 
plan.  After  thirteen  days  he  landed  in  the  Bay  of 
San  Mateo  (St.  Matthew),  and  led  his  men  by  land, 
while  the  vessels  coasted  along  southward.  It  was 
an  enormously  difficult  tramp  on  that  inhospitable 
shore,  and  the  men  could  scarcely  stagger  on.  But 
Pizarro  acted  as  guide,  and  cheered  them  up  by 
words  and  example.  It  was  the  old  story  with  him. 
Everywhere  he  had  fairly  to  carry  his  company. 


GAINING  GROUND.  235 

Their  legs  no  doubt  were  as  strong  as  his,  though 
he  must  have  had  a  very  wonderful  constitution; 
but  there  is  a  mental  muscle  which  is  harder  and 
more  enduring,  and  has  held  up  many  a  tottering 
body,  —  the  muscle  of  pluck.  And  that  pluck  of 
Pizarro  was  never  surpassed  on  earth.  You  might 
almost  say  it  had  to  carry  his  army  pick-a-back. 

Wild  as  the  region  was,  it  had  some  mineral  wealth. 
Pizarro  collected  (so  Pedro  Pizarro  l  says)  two  hun 
dred  thousand  castellanos  (each  weighing  a  dollar) 
of  gold.  This  he  sent  back  to  Panama  by  his  vessels 
to  speak  for  him.  //  was  the  kind  of  argument  the 
rude  adventurers  on  the  Isthmus  could  understand, 
and  he  trusted  to  its  yellow  logic  to  bring  him  re 
cruits.  But  while  the  vessels  had  gone  on  this 
important  errand,  the  little  army,  trudging  down 
the  coast,  was  suffering  greatly.  The  deep  sands, 
the  tropic  heat,  the  weight  of  their  arms  and  armor 
were  almost  unendurable.  A  strange  and  horrible 
pestilence  broke  out,  and  many  perished.  The 
country  grew  more  forbidding,  and  again  the  suffer 
ing  soldiers  lost  hope.  At  Puerto  Viejo  they  were 
joined  by  thirty  men  under  Sebastian  de  Belalcazar, 
who  afterward  distinguished  himself  in  a  brave 
chase  of  that  golden  butterfly  which  so  many  pur 
sued  to  their  death,  and  none  ever  captured,  —  the 
myth  of  the  Dorado. 

Pushing  on,  Pizarro  finally  crossed  to  the  island 
of  Puna,  to  rest  his  gaunt  men,  and  get  them  in 

1  A  Spanish  historian  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a  relative 
of  Francisco  Pizarro. 


236  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

trim  for  the  conquest.  The  Indians  of  the  island 
attempted  treachery ;  and  when  their  ringleaders 
were  captured  and  punished,  the  whole  swarm  of 
savages  fell  desperately  on  the  Spanish  camp.  It 
was  a  most  unequal  contest ;  but  at  last  courage 
and  discipline  prevailed  over  mere  brute  force, 
and  the  Indians  were  routed.  Many  Spaniards 
were  wounded,  and  among  them  Hernando  Pizarro, 
who  got  an  ugly  javelin- wound  in  the  leg.  But  the 
Indians  gave  them  no  rest,  and  were  constantly 
harassing  them,  cutting  off  stragglers,  and  keeping 
the  camp  in  endless  alarm.  Then  fortunately  came 
a  reinforcement  of  one  hundred  men  with  a  few 
horses,  under  command  of  Hernando  de  Soto,  the 
heroic  but  unfortunate  man  who  later  explored  the 
Mississippi. 

Thus  strengthened,  Pizarro  crossed  back  to  the 
mainland  on  rafts.  The  Indians  disputed  his 
passage,  killed  three  men  on  one  raft,  and  cut 
off  another  raft,  whose  soldiers  were  overpowered. 
Hernando  Pizarro  had  already  landed ;  and  though 
a  dangerous  mud-flat  lay  between,  he  spurred  his 
floundering  horse  through  belly-deep  mire,  with  a 
few  companions,  and  rescued  the  imperilled  men. 

Entering  Tumbez,  the  Spaniards  found  the  pretty 
town  stripped  and  deserted.  Alonso  de  Molina  and 
his  companion  had  disappeared,  and  their  fate  was 
never  learned.  Pizarro  left  a  small  force  there,  and 
in  May,  1532,  marched  inland,  sending  De  Soto 
with  a  small  detachment  to  scout  the  base  of  the 
giant  Andes.  From  his  very  first  landing,  Pizarro 


GAINING   GROUND.  237 

enforced  the  strictest  discipline.  His  soldiers  must 
treat  the  Indians  well,  under  the  severest  penalties. 
They  must  not  even  enter  an  Indian  dwelling ;  and 
if  they  dared  disobey  this  command  they  were 
sternly  punished.  It  was  a  liberal  and  gentle  policy 
toward  the  Indians  which  Pizarro  adopted  at  the 
very  start,  and  maintained  inflexibly. 

After  three  or  four  weeks  spent  in  exploring, 
Pizarro  picked  out  a  site  in  the  valley  of  Tangara, 
and  founded  there  the  town  of  San  Miguel  (St. 
Michael).  He  built  a  church,  storehouse,  hall  of 
justice,  fort  and  dwellings,  and  organized  a  govern 
ment.  The  gold  they  had  collected  he  sent  back 
to  Panama,  and  waited  several  weeks  hoping  for 
recruits.  But  none  came,  and  it  was  evident  that 
he  must  give  up  the  conquest  of  Peru,  or  undertake 
it  with  the  handful  of  men  he  already  had.  It  did 
not  take  a  Pizarro  long  to  choose  between  such 
alternatives.  Leaving  fifty  soldiers  under  Antonio 
Navarro  to  garrison  San  Miguel,  and  with  strict  laws 
for  the  protection  of  the  Indians,  Pizarro  marched 
Sept.  24,  1532,  toward  the  vast  and  unknown 
interior. 


238  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


IV. 

PERU   AS   IT   WAS. 

NOW  that  we  have  followed  Pizarro  to  Peru,  and 
he  is  about  to  conquer  the  wonderful  land  to 
find  which  he  has  gone  through  such  unparalleled 
discouragements  and  sufferings,  we  must  stop  for  a 
moment  to  get  an  understanding  of  the  country. 
This  is  the  more  necessary  because  such  false  and 
foolish  tales  of  "the  Empire  of  Peru"  and  "the 
reign  of  the  Incas,"  and  all  that  sort  of  trash,  have 
been  so  widely  circulated.  To  comprehend  the  Con 
quest  at  all,  we  must  understand  what  there  was  to 
conquer ;  and  that  makes  it  necessary  that  I  should 
sketch  in  a  few  words  the  picture  of  Peru  that  was  so 
long  accepted  on  the  authority  of  grotesquely  mis 
taken  historians,  and  also  Peru  as  it  really  was,  and 
as  more  scholarly  history  has  fully  proved  it  to  have 
been. 

We  were  told  that  Peru  was  a  great,  rich,  populous, 
civilized  empire,  ruled  by  a  long  line  of  kings  who 
were  called  Incas ;  that  it  had  dynasties  and  noble 
men,  throne  and  crown  and  court;  that  its  kings 
conquered  vast  territories,  and  civilized  their  con 
quered  savage  neighbors  by  wonderful  laws  and 
schools  and  other  tools  of  the  highest  political 


PERU  AS  IT   WAS. 


239 


economy ;  that  they  had  military  roads  finer  than 
those  built  by  the  Romans,  and  a  thousand  miles  in 
length,  with  wonderful  pavement  and  bridges ;  that 
this  wonderful  race  believed  in  one  Supreme  Being ; 
that  the  king  and  all  of  the  royal  blood  were  immeas 
urably  above  the  common  people,  but  mild,  just, 
paternal,  and  enlightened ;  that  there  were  royal 
palaces  everywhere ;  that  they  had  canals  four 
or  five  hundred  miles  long,  and  county  fairs,  and 
theatrical  representations  of  tragedy  and  comedy; 
that  they  carved  emeralds  with  bronze  tools  the 
making  of  which  is  now  a  lost  art ;  that  the  govern 
ment  took  the  census,  and  had  the  populace  edu 
cated  ;  and  that  while  the  policy  of  the  remarkable 
aborigines  of  Mexico  was  the  policy  of  hate,  that  of 
the  Inca  kings  was  the  policy  of  love  and  mildness. 
Above  all,  we  were  told  much  of  the  long  line  of 
Inca  monarchs,  the  royal  family,  whose  last  great 
king,  Huayna  Capac,  had  died  not  a  great  while  be 
fore  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards.  He  was  repre 
sented  as  dividing  the  throne  between  his  sons  Ata- 
hualpa  and  Huascar,  who  soon  quarrelled  and  began 
a  wicked  and  merciless  fratricidal  war  with  armies 
and  other  civilized  arrangements.  Then,  we  were 
told,  came  Pizarro  and  took  advantage  of  this  un- 
fraternal  war,  arrayed  one  brother  against  the  other, 
and  thus  was  enabled  at  last  to  conquer  the  empire. 
All  this,  with  a  thousand  other  things  as  ridiculous, 
as  untrue,  and  as  impossible,  is  part  of  one  of  the 
most  fascinating  but  misleading  historical  romances 
ever  written.  It  never  could  have  been  written  if 


240  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

the  beautiful  and  accurate  science  of  ethnology  had 
then  been  known.  The  whole  idea  of  Peru  so  long 
prevalent  was  based  upon  utter  ignorance  of  the 
country,  and,  above  all,  of  Indians  everywhere.  For 
you  must  remember  that  these  wonderful  beings, 
whose  pictured  government  puts  to  shame  any  civil 
ized  nation  now  on  earth,  were  nothing  but  Indians. 
I  do  not  mean  that  Indians  are  not  men,  with  all  the 
emotions  and  feelings  and  rights  of  men,  —  rights 
which  I  only  wish  we  had  protected  with  as  honor 
able  care  as  Spain  did.  But  the  North  and  South 
American  Indians  are  very  like  each  other  in  their 
social,  religious,  and  political  organization,  and  very 
unlike  us.  The  Peruvians  had  indeed  advanced 
somewhat  further  than  any  other  Indians  in  America, 
but  they  were  still  Indians.  They  had  no  adequate 
idea  of  a  Supreme  Being,  but  worshipped  a  bewil 
dering  multitude  of  gods  and  idols.  There  was 
no  king,  no  throne,  no  dynasty,  no  royal  blood, 
nor  anything  else  royal.  Anything  of  that  sort  was 
even  more  impossible  among  the  Indians  than  it 
would  be  now  in  our  own  republic.  There  was 
not,  and  could  not  be,  even  a  nation.  Indian  life  is 
essentially  tribal.  Not  only  can  there  be  no  king 
nor  anything  resembling  a  king,  but  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  heredity,  —  except  as  something  to  be 
guarded  against.  The  chief  (and  there  cannot  be 
even  one  supreme  chief)  cannot  hand  down  his 
authority  to  his  son,  nor  to  any  one  else.  The  suc 
cessor  is  elected  by  the  council  of  officials  who  have 
such  things  in  charge.  Where  there  are  no  kings 


PERU  AS  IT   WAS.  241 

there  can  be  no  palaces,  —  and  there  were  neither 
in  Peru.  As  for  fairs  and  schools  and  all  those 
things,  they  were  as  untrue  as  impossible.  There 
was  no  court,  nor  crown,  nor  nobility,  nor  census,  nor 
theatres,  nor  anything  remotely  suggesting  any  of 
them ;  and  as  for  the  Incas,  they  were  not  kings  nor 
even  rulers,  but  a  tribe  of  Indians.  They  were  the 
only  Indians  in  the  Americas  who  had  the  smelter ; 
and  that  enabled  them  to  make  rude  gold  and  silver 
ornaments  and  images;  so  their  country  was  the 
richest  in  the  New  World,  and  they  certainly  had  a 
remarkable  though  barbaric  splendor.  The  temples 
of  their  blind  gods  were  bright  with  gold,  and  the 
Indians  wore  precious  metals  in  profusion,  just  as  our 
own  Navajos  and  Pueblos  in  New  Mexico  and  Ari 
zona  wear  pounds  and  pounds  of  silver  ornaments 
to-day.  They  made  bronze  tools  too,  some  of  which 
had  a  very  good  temper ;  but  it  was  not  an  art,  only 
an  accident.  Two  of  those  tools  were  never  found 
of  the  same  alloy ;  the  Indian  smith  simply  guessed 
at  it,  and  had  to  throw  away  many  a  tool  for  every 
one  he  accidentally  made. 

The  Incas  were  one  of  the  Peruvian  tribes,  at 
first  weak  and  sadly  mauled  about  by  their  neigh 
bors.  At  last,  driven  from  their  old  home,  they 
stumbled  upon  a  valley  which  was  a  natural  fortress. 
Here  they  built  their  town  of  Cuzco,  —  for  they 
built  towns  as  did  our  Pueblos,  but  better.  Then 
when  they  had  fortified  the  two  or  three  passes 
by  which  alone  that  pocket  in  the  Andes  can  be 
reached,  they  were  safe.  Their  neighbors  could 
16 


242  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

no  longer  get  in  to  kill  and  rob  them.  In  time 
they  grew  to  be  numerous  and  confident,  and  like 
all  other  Indians  (and  some  white  peoples)  at  once 
began  to  sally  out  to  kill  and  rob  their  neighbors. 
In  this  they  succeeded  very  well,  because  they  had 
a  safe  place  to  retreat  to ;  and,  above  all,  because 
they  had  their  little  camels,  and  could  carry  food 
enough  to  be  gone  long  from  home.  They  had  do 
mesticated  the  llama,  which  none  of  the  neighbor 
tribes,  except  the  Aymaros,  had  done  ;  and  this  gave 
the  Incas  an  enormous  advantage.  They  could 
steal  out  from  their  safe  valley  in  a  large  force,  with 
provisions  for  a  month  or  more,  and  surprise  some 
village.  If  they  were  beaten  off,  they  merely 
skulked  in  the  mountains,  living  by  their  pack-train, 
constantly  harassing  and  cutting  off  the  villagers 
until  the  latter  were  simply  worn  out.  We  see 
what  the  little  camel  did  for  the  Incas :  it  enabled 
them  to  make  war  in  a  manner  no  other  Indians  in 
America  had  then  ever  used.  With  this  advantage 
and  in  this  manner  this  warrior  tribe  had  made  what 
might  be  called  a  "  conquest "  over  an  enormous 
country.  The  tribes  found  it  cheaper  at  last  to  yield, 
and  pay  the  Incas  to  let  them  alone.  The  robbers 
built  storehouses  in  each  place,  and  put  there  an 
official  to  receive  the  tribute  exacted  from  the  con 
quered  tribe.  These  tribes  were  never  assimilated. 
They  could  not  enter  Cuzco,  nor  did  Incas  come  to 
live  among  them.  It  was  not  a  nation,  but  a  coun 
try  of  Indian  tribes  held  down  together  by  fear  of 
the  one  stronger  tribe. 


PERU  AS  IT  WAS,  243 

The  organization  of  the  Incas  was,  broadly  speak 
ing,  the  same  as  that  of  any  other  Indian  tribe. 
The  most  prominent  official  in  such  a  tribe  of  land- 
pirates  was  naturally  the  official  who  had  charge  of 
the  business  of  fighting,  —  the  war-captain.  He  was 
the  commander  in  war ;  but  in  the  other  branches 
of  government  he  was  far  from  being  the  only  or  the 
highest  man  !  And  that  is  simply  what  Huayna  Capae 
and  all  the  other  fabulous  Inca  kings  were,  —  Indian 
war-captains  of  the  same  influence  as  several  Indian 
war-captains  I  know  in  New  Mexico. 

Huayna  Capac's  sons  were  also  Indian  war-cap 
tains,  and  nothing  more,  —  moreover,  war-captains 
of  different  tribes,  rivals  and  enemies.  Atahualpa 
moved  down  from  Quito  with  his  savage  warriors, 
and  had  several  fights,  and  finally  captured  Huascar 
and  shut  him  up  in  the  Indian  fort  at  Xauxa.1 

That  was  the  state  of  things  when  Pizarro  began 
his  march  inland;  and  lest  you  should  be  misled 
by  assertions  that  the  condition  of  things  in  Peru 
was  differently  stated  by  the  Spanish  historians,  it  is 
needful  to  say  one  thing  more.  The  Spanish  chroni 
clers  were  not  liars  nor  blunderers,  —  any  more  than 
our  own  later  pioneers  who  wrote  gravely  of  the 
Indian  King  Philip,  and  the  Indian  King  Powhatan, 
and  the  Indian  Princess  Pocahontas.  Ethnology 
was  an  unknown  science  then.  None  of  those  old 
writers  comprehended  the  characteristic  Indian  or 
ganization.  They  saw  an  ignorant,  naked,  supersti 
tious  man  who  commanded  his  ignorant  followers ; 
1  Pronounced  S6w-sa. 


244  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

he  was  a  person  in  authority,  and  they  called  him  a 
king  because  they  did  not  know  what  else  to  call  him. 
The  Spaniards  did  the  same  thing.  All  the  world 
in  those  days  had  but  one  little  foot-rule  where 
with  to  measure  governments  or  organizations; 
and  ridiculous  as  some  of  their  measurements  seem 
now,  no  one  then  could  do  better.  No ;  the  mis 
takes  of  the  Spanish  chroniclers  were  as  honest  and 
as  ignorant  as  those  which  Prescott  made  three  cen 
turies  later,  and  by  no  means  so  absurd. 

Peru,  however,  was  a  very  wonderful  country  to 
have  been  built  up  by  simple  Indians,  without  even 
that  national  organization  or  spirit  which  is  the  first 
step  toward  a  nation.  Its  "  cities  "  were  substantial, 
and  in  their  construction  had  considerable  claim  to 
skill ;  the  farms  were  better  than  those  of  our 
Pueblos,  because  they  had  indigenous  there  the 
potato  and  other  plant-foods  unknown  then  in  our 
southwest,  and  were  watered  by  the  same  system  of 
irrigation  common  to  all  the  sedentary  tribes.  They 
were  the  only  shepherd  Indians,  and  their  great 
flocks  of  llamas  were  a  very  considerable  source  of 
wealth;  while  the  camel's-hair  cloths  of  their  own 
weaving  were  not  disdained  by  the  proud  ladies  of 
Spain.  And  above  all,  their  rude  ovens  for  melting 
metal  enabled  them  to  supply  a  certain  dazzling  dis 
play,  which  was  certainly  not  to  be  expected  among 
American  Indians :  indeed,  it  would  surprise  us  to 
enter  churches  anywhere  and  find  them  so  bright 
with  golden  plates  and  images  and  dados  as  were 
some  of  their  barbaric  temples.  We  cannot  say 


PERU  AS  IT   WAS.  245 

that  they  never  made  human  sacrifices;  but  these 
hideous  rites  were  rare,  and  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  daily  horrors  in  Mexico.  For  ordinary  sacrifices, 
the  llama  was  the  victim. 

It  was  into  the  strongholds  of  this  piratical  but 
uncommon  Indian  tribe  that  Pizarro  was  now  lead 
ing  his  little  band. 


246  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


V. 

THE   CONQUEST  OF   PERU. 

/^""*ERTAINLY  no  army  ever  marched  in  the  face 
^^>  of  more  hopeless  odds.  Against  the  count 
less  thousands  of  the  Peruvians,  Pizarro  had  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-seven  men.  Only  sixty-seven  of 
these  had  horses.  In  the  whole  command  there  were 
but  three  guns ;  and  only  twenty  men  had  even  cross 
bows  ;  all  the  others  were  armed  with  sword,  dagger, 
and  lance.  A  pretty  array,  truly,  to  conquer  what 
was  an  empire  in  size  though  not  in  organization  ! 

Five  days  out  from  San  Miguel,  Pizarro  paused 
to  rest.  Here  he  noticed  that  the  seeds  of  discon 
tent  were  among  his  followers ;  and  he  adopted  a 
remedy  characteristic  of  the  man.  Drawing  up  his 
company,  he  addressed  them  in  friendly  fashion.  He 
said  he  wished  San  Miguel  might  be  better  guarded  ; 
its  garrison  was  very  small.  If  there  were  any  now 
who  would  rather  not  proceed  to  the  unknown  dan 
gers  of  the  interior,  they  were  at  perfect  liberty  to 
return  and  help  guard  San  Miguel,  where  they  should 
have  the  same  grants  of  land  as  the  others,  besides 
sharing  in  the  final  profits  of  the  conquest. 

It  was  an  audacious  yet  a  wise  step.  Four  foot- 
soldiers  and  five  cavalrymen  said  they  believed  they 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  247 

would  go  back  to  San  Miguel ;  and  back  they  went, 
while  the  loyal  one  hundred  and  sixty- eight  pressed 
on,  pledged  anew  to  follow  their  intrepid  leader  to 
the  end. 

De  Soto,  who  had  been  out  on  a  scout  for  eight 
days,  now  returned,  accompanied  by  a  messenger 
from  the  Inca  war-captain,  Atahualpa.  The  Indian 
brought  gifts,  and  invited  them  to  visit  Atahualpa, 
who  was  now  encamped  with  his  braves  at  Caxa- 
marca.1  Felipillo,  the  young  Indian  from  Tumbez, 
who  had  gone  back  to  Spain  with  Pizarro  and  had 
learned  Spanish,  now  made  a  very  useful  interpreter ; 
and  through  him  the  Spaniards  were  able  to  converse 
with  the  Inca  Indians.  Pizarro  treated  the  mes 
senger  with  his  usual  courtesy,  and  sent  him  home 
with  gifts,  and  marched  on  up  the  hills  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Caxamarca.  One  of  the  Indians  declared 
that  Atahualpa  was  simply  decoying  the  Spaniards 
into  his  stronghold  to  destroy  them  without  the 
trouble  of  going  after  them,  which  was  quite  true ; 
and  another  Indian  declared  that  the  Inca  war- 
captain  had  with  him  a  force  of  at  least  fifty  thou 
sand  men.  But  without  faltering,  Pizarro  sent  an 
Indian  ahead  to  reconnoitre,  and  pushed  on  through 
the  fearful  mountain  passes  of  the  Cordillera,  cheering 
his  men  with  one  of  his  characteristic  speeches  :  — 

"  Let  all  take  heart  and  courage  to  do  as  I  expect  of 
you,  and  as  good  Spaniards  are  wont  to  do.  And  do 
not  be  alarmed  by  the  multitude  the  enemy  is  said  to 
have,  nor  by  the  small  number  of  us  Christians.  For 

1  Pronounced  Cash-a-w^r-ca. 


248  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

even  if  we  were  fewer  and  the  opposing  army  greater, 
the  help  of  God  is  much  greater  yet ;  and  in  the  utmost 
need  He  aids  and  favors  His  own  to  disconcert  and 
humble  the  pride  of  the  infidels,  and  bring  them  to  the 
knowledge  of  our  holy  faith." 

To  this  knightly  speech,  the  men  shouted  that 
they  would  follow  wherever  he  led.  Pizarro  went 
ahead  with  forty  horsemen  and  sixty  infantry,  leaving 
his  brother  Hernando  to  halt  with  the  remaining 
men  until  further  orders.  It  was  no  child's  play, 
climbing  those  awful  paths.  The  horsemen  had  to 
dismount,  and  even  then  could  hardly  lead  their 
horses  up  the  heights.  The  narrow  trails  wound 
under  hanging  cliffs  and  along  the  brinks  of  gloomy 
quebradasf  —  narrow  clefts,  thousands  of  feet  deep, 
where  the  rocky  shelf  was  barely  wide  enough  to 
creep  along.  The  pass  was  commanded  by  two 
remarkable  stone  forts;  but  luckily  these  were 
deserted.  Had  an  enemy  occupied  them,  the  Span 
iards  would  have  been  lost;  but  Atahualpa  was 
letting  them  walk  into  his  trap,  confident  of  crush 
ing  them  there  at  his  ease.  At  the  top  of  the  pass 
Hernando  and  his  men  were  sent  for,  and  came 
up.  A  messenger  from  Atahualpa  now  arrived  with 
a  present  of  llamas ;  and  at  about  the  same  time 
Pizarro's  Indian  spy  returned,  and  reiterated  that 
Atahualpa  meant  treachery.  The  Peruvian  mes 
senger  plausibly  explained  the  suspicious  movements 
related  by  the  spy.  His  explanation  was  far  from 
satisfactory ;  but  Pizarro  was  too  wise  to  show  his 

1  Pronounced 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  PERU.  249 

distrust.  Nothing  but  a  confident  front  could  save 
them  now. 

The  Spaniards  suffered  much  from  cold  in  cross 
ing  that  lofty  upland  ;  and  even  the  descent  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Cordillera  was  full  of  difficulty.  On 
the  seventh  day  they  came  in  sight  of  Caxamarca  in 
its  pretty  oval  valley,  —  a  pocket  of  the  great  range. 
Off  to  one  side  was  the  camp  of  the  Inca  war-captain 
and  his  army,  covering  a  great  area.  On  the  i5th 
of  November,  1532,  the  Spaniards  entered  the  town. 
It  was  absolutely  deserted,  —  a  serious  and  danger 
ous  omen.  Pizarro  halted  in  the  great  square  or 
common,  and  sent  De  Soto  and  Hernando  Pizarro 
with  thirty-five  cavalry  to  Atahualpa's  camp  to  ask  an 
interview.  They  found  the  Indian  surrounded  by  a 
luxury  which  startled  them ;  and  the  overwhelming 
number  of  warriors  impressed  them  no  less.  To 
their  request  Atahualpa  replied  that  to-day  he  was 
keeping  a  sacred  fast  (itself  a  highly  suspicious 
fact),  but  to-morrow  he  would  visit  the  Spaniards 
in  the  town.  "  Take  the  houses  on  the  square,"  he 
said,  "  and  enter  no  others.  They  are  for  the  use 
of  all.  When  I  come,  I  will  give  orders  what  shall 
be  done." 

The  Peruvians,  who  had  never  seen  a  horse  before, 
were  astounded  at  these  mounted  strangers,  and 
doubly  charmed  when  De  Soto,  who  was  a  gallant 
horseman,  displayed  his  prowess,  —  not  for  vanity ;  it 
was  a  matter  of  very  serious  importance  to  impress 
these  outnumbering  barbarians  with  the  dangerous 
abilities  of  the  strangers. 


250  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

The  events  of  the  next  day  deserve  special  atten 
tion,  as  they  and  their  direct  consequences  have  been 
the  basis  of  the  unjust  charge  that  Pizarro  was  a  cruel 
man.  The  real  facts  are  his  full  justification. 

On  the  morning  of  November  16,  after  an  anxious 
night,  the  Spaniards  were  up  with  the  first  gray 
dawn.  It  was  plain  now  that  they  had  walked  right 
into  the  trap ;  and  the  chances  were  a  hundred  to 
one  that  they  would  never  get  out.  Their  Indian 
spy  had  warned  them  truly.  Here  they  were 
cooped  up  in  the  town,  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
of  them ;  and  within  easy  distance  were  the  un 
numbered  thousands  of  the  Indians.  Worse  yet, 
they  saw  their  retreat  cut  off;  for  in  the  night 
Atahualpa  had  thrown  a  large  force  between  them 
and  the  pass  by  which  they  had  entered.  Their 
case  was  absolutely  hopeless,  —  nothing  but  a 
miracle  could  save  them.  But  their  miracle  was 
ready,  —  it  was  Pizarro. 

It  is  by  one  of  the  finest  provisions  of  Nature  that 
the  right  sort  of  minds  think  best  and  swiftest  when 
there  is  most  need  for  them  to  think  quickly  and 
well.  In  the  supreme  moment  all  the  crowding, 
jumbled  thoughts  of  the  full  brain  seem  to  be  sud 
denly  swept  aside,  to  leave  a  clear  space  down 
which  the  one  great  thought  may  leap  forward  like 
the  runner  to  his  goal,  —  or  like  the  lightning  which 
splits  the  slow,  tame  air  asunder  even  as  its  fire 
dashes  on  its  way.  Most  intelligent  persons  have 
that  mental  lightning  sometimes ;  and  when  it  can 
be  relied  on  to  come  and  instantly  illumine  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU.  251 

darkest  crisis,  it  is  the  insight  of  genius.  It  was 
that  which  made  Napoleon,  Napoleon ;  and  made 
Pizarro,  Pizarro. 

There  was  need  of  some  wonderfully  rapid,  some 
almost  superhuman  thinking.  What  could  over 
come  those  frightful  odds  ?  Ah  !  Pizarro  had  it ! 
He  did  not  know,  as  we  know  now,  what  super 
stitious  reasons  made  the  Indians  revere  Atahualpa 
so;  but  he  did  know  that  the  influence  existed. 
Somewhat  as  Pizarro  was  to  the  Spaniards,  was  their 
war-captain  to  the  Peruvians,  —  not  only  their 
military  head,  but  literally  equal  to  "  a  host  in  him 
self."  Very  well  !  If  he  could  capture  this  treach 
erous  chieftain,  it  would  reduce  the  odds  greatly ; 
indeed,  it  would  be  the  bloodless  equivalent  of 
depriving  the  hostile  force  of  several  thousand 
men.  Besides,  Atahualpa  would  be  a  pledge  for 
the  peace  of  his  people.  And  as  the  only  way 
out  of  destruction,  Pizarro  determined  to  capture 
the  war- captain. 

For  this  brilliant  strategy  he  at  once  made  care 
ful  preparations.  The  cavalry,  in  two  divisions 
commanded  respectively  by  Hernando  de  Soto  and 
Hernando  Pizarro,  was  hidden  in  two  great  hallways 
which  opened  into  the  square.  In  a  third  hallway 
were  put  the  infantry ;  and  with  twenty  men  Pizarro 
took  his  position  at  a  fourth  commanding  point. 
Pedro  de  Candia,  with  the  artillery,  —  two  poor  little 
falconets,  —  was  stationed  on  the  top  of  a  strong 
building.  Pizarro  then  made  a  devout  address  to 
his  soldiers;  and  with  public  prayers  to  God  to 


252  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

aid  and  preserve  them,  the  little  force  awaited   its 
enemy. 

The  day  was  nearly  gone  when  Atahualpa  entered 
town,  riding  on  a  golden  chair  borne  high  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  servants.  He  had  promised  to 
come  for  a  friendly  visit,  and  unarmed ;  but  singu 
larly  his  friendly  visit  was  made  with  a  following 
of  several  thousand  athletic  warriors  !  Ostensibly 
they  were  unarmed  ;  but  underneath  their  cloaks 
they  clutched  bows  and  knives  and  war- clubs.  Ata 
hualpa  was  certainly  not  above  curiosity,  uncon 
cerned  as  he  had  seemed.  This  new  sort  of  men 
was  too  interesting  to  be  exterminated  at  once.  He 
wished  to  see  more  of  them,  and  so  came,  but  per 
fectly  confident,  as  a  cruel  boy  might  be  with  a  fly. 
He  could  watch  its  buzzings  for  a  time ;  and  when 
ever  he  was  tired  of  that,  he  had  but  to  turn  down 
his  thumb  and  crush  the  fly  upon  the  pane.  He 
reckoned  too  soon.  A  hundred  and  seventy  Spanish 
bodies  might  be  easily  crushed ;  but  not  when  they 
were  animated  by  one  such  mind  as  their  leader's. 

Even  now  Pizarro  was  ready  to  adopt  peaceful 
measures.  Good  Fray  Vicente  de  Valverde,  the 
chaplain  of  the  little  army,  stepped  forth  to  meet 
Atahualpa.  It  was  a  strange  contrast,  —  the  quiet, 
gray-robed  missionary,  with  his  worn  Bible  in  his 
hand,  facing  the  cunning  Indian  on  his  golden 
throne,  with  golden  ornaments  and  a  necklace  of 
emeralds.  Father  Valverde  spoke.  He  said  they 
came  as  servants  of  a  mighty  king  and  of  the  true 
God.  They  came  as  friends ;  and  all  they  asked 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  PERU.  253 

was  that  the  Indian  chief  should  abandon  his  idols 
and  submit  to  God,  and  accept  the  king  of  Spain  as 
his  atfy,  not  as  his  sovereign. 

Atahualpa,  after  looking  curiously  at  the  Bible 
(for  of  course  he  had  never  seen  a  book  before), 
dropped  it,  and  answered  the  missionary  curtly  and 
almost  insultingly.  Father  Valverde's  exhortations 
only  angered  the  Indian,  and  his  words  and  manner 
grew  more  menacing.  Atahualpa  desired  to  see  the 
sword  of  one  of  the  Spaniards,  and  it  was  shown 
him.  Then  he  wished  to  draw  it ;  but  the  soldier 
wisely  declined  to  allow  him.  Father  Valverde  did 
not,  as  has  been  charged,  then  urge  a  massacre ; 
he  merely  reported  to  Pizarro  the  failure  of  his  con 
ciliatory  efforts.  The  hour  had  come.  Atahualpa 
might  now  strike  at  any  moment ;  and  if  he  struck 
first,  there  was  absolutely  no  hope  for  the  Spaniards. 
Their  only  salvation  was  in  turning  the  tables,  and 
surprising  the  surprisers.  Pizarro  waved  his  scarf 
to  Candia ;  and  the  ridiculous  little  cannon  on  the 
housetop  boomed  across  the  square.  It  did  not  hit 
anybody,  and  was  not  meant  to ;  it  was  merely  to 
terrify  the  Indians,  who  had  never  heard  a  gun,  and 
to  give  the  signal  to  the  Spaniards.  The  descriptions 
of  how  the  "smoke  from  the  artillery  rolled  in 
sulphurous  volumes  along  the  square,  blinding  the 
Peruvians,  and  making  a  thick  gloom,"  can  best  be 
appreciated  when  we  remember  that  all  this  deadly 
cloud  had  to  come  from  two  little  pop-cannon  that 
were  carried  over  the  mountains  on  horseback,  and 
three  old  flintlock  muskets  !  Yet  in  such  a  ridicu- 


254  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

lous  fashion  have  most  of  the  events  of  the  conquest 
been  written  about. 

Not  less  false  and  silly  are  current  descriptions  of 
the  "  massacre  "  which  ensued.  The  Spaniards  all 
sallied  out  at  the  signal  and  fell  upon  the  Indians, 
and  finally  drove  them  from  the  square.  We  cannot 
believe  that  two  thousand  were  slain,  when  we  con 
sider  how  many  Indians  one  man  would  be  capable 
of  killing  with  a  sword  or  clubbed  musket  or  cross 
bow  in  half  an  hour's  running  fight,  and  multiplying 
that  by  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight ;  for  after  such 
a  computation  we  should  believe,  not  that  two  thou 
sand,  but  two  hundred  is  about  the  right  figure  for 
those  killed  at  Caxamarca. 

The  chief  efforts  of  the  Spaniards  were  necessa 
rily  not  to  kill,  but  to  drive  off  the  other  Indians  and 
capture  Atahualpa.  Pizarro  had  given  stern  orders 
that  the  chief  must  not  be  hurt.  He  did  not  wish 
to  kill  him,  but  to  secure  him  alive  as  a  hostage  for 
the  peaceful  conduct  of  his  people.  The  body 
guard  of  the  war-captain  made  a  stout  resistance ; 
and  one  excited  Spaniard  hurled  a  missile  at  Atahu 
alpa.  Pizarro  sprang  forward  and  took  the  wound 
in  his  own  arm,  saving  the  Indian  chief.  At  last 
Atahualpa  was  secured  unhurt,  and  was  placed  in 
one  of  the  buildings  under  a  strong  guard.  He 
admitted  —  with  the  characteristic  bravado  of  an 
Indian,  whose  traditional  habit  it  is  to  show  his 
courage  by  taunting  his  captors  —  that  he  had  let 
them  come  in,  secure  in  his  overwhelming  numbers, 
to  make  slaves  of  such  as  pleased  him,  and  put  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OP  PERU.  255 

others  to  death.  He  might  have  added  that  had  the 
wily  war-chief  his  father  been  alive,  this  never  would 
have  happened.  Experienced  old  Huayna  Capac 
would  never  have  let  the  Spaniards  enter  the  town, 
but  would  have  entangled  and  annihilated  them  in 
the  wild  mountain  passes.  But  Atahualpa,  being 
more  conceited  and  less  prudent,  had  taken  a 
needless  risk,  and  now  found  himself  a  prisoner  and 
his  army  routed.  The  biter  was  bitten. 

The  distinguished  captive  was  treated  with  the 
utmost  care  and  kindness.  He  was  a  prisoner  only 
in  that  he  could  not  go  out ;  but  in  the  spacious  and 
pleasant  rooms  assigned  him  he  had  every  comfort. 
His  family  lived  with  him ;  his  food,  the  best  that 
could  be  procured,  he  ate  from  his  own  dishes ;  and 
every  wish  was  gratified  except  the  one  wish  to  get 
out  and  rally  his  Indians  for  war.  Father  Valverde, 
and  Pizarro  himself,  labored  earnestly  to  convert 
Atahualpa  to  Christianity,  explaining  the  worthless- 
ness  and  wickedness  of  his  idols,  and  the  love  of  the 
true  God,  —  as  well  as  they  could  to  an  Indian,  to 
whom,  of  course,  a  Christian  God  was  incomprehen 
sible.  The  worthlessness  of  his  own  gods  Atahualpa 
was  not  slow  to  admit.  He  frankly  declared  that 
they  were  nothing  but  liars.  Huayna  Capac  had 
consulted  them,  and  they  answered  that  he  would 
live  a  great  while  yet,  —  and  Huayna  Capac  had 
promptly  died.  Atahualpa  himself  had  gone  to  ask 
the  oracle  if  he  should  attack  the  Spaniards  :  the 
oracle  had  answered  yes,  and  that  he  would  easily 
conquer  them.  No  wonder  the  Inca  war-chief  had 
lost  confidence  in  the  makers  of  such  predictions. 


256  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

The  Spaniards  gathered  many  llamas,  considerable 
gold,  and  a  large  store  of  fine  garments  of  cotton 
and  camel's-hair.  They  were  no  longer  molested ; 
for  the  Indians  without  their  professional  war-maker 
were  even  more  at  a  loss  than  a  civilized  army 
would  be  without  its  officers,  for  the  Indian  leader 
has  a  priestly  as  well  as  a  military  office,  —  and  their 
leader  was  a  prisoner. 

At  last  Atahualpa,  anxious  to  get  back  to  his  forces 
at  any  cost,  made  a  proposition  so  startling  that  the 
Spaniards  could  scarce  believe  their  ears.  If  they 
would  set  him  free,  he  promised  to  fill  the  room 
wherein  he  was  a  prisoner  as  high  as  he  could  reach 
with  gold,  and  a  smaller  room  with  silver  !  The  room 
to  be  filled  with  golden  vessels  and  trinkets  (nothing 
so  compact  as  ingots)  is  said  to  have  been  twenty - 
two  feet  long  and  seventeen  wide  ;  and  the  mark  he 
indicated  on  the  wall  with  his  fingers  was  nine  feet 
from  the  floor ! 


THE  GOLDEN  RANSOM.  257 


VI. 

THE   GOLDEN    RANSOM. 


is  no  reason  whatever  to  doubt  that 
A  Pizarro  accepted  this  proposition  in  perfect 
good  faith.  The  whole  nature  of  the  man,  his  reli 
gion,  the  laws  of  Spain,  and  the  circumstantial  evi 
dence  of  his  habitual  conduct  lead  us  to  believe 
that  he  intended  to  set  Atahualpa  free  when  the 
ransom  should  have  been  paid.  But  later  circum 
stances,  in  which  he  had  neither  blame  nor  control, 
simply  forced  him  to  a  different  course. 

Atahualpa's  messengers  dispersed  themselves 
through  Peru  to  gather  the  gold  and  silver  for  the 
ransom.  Meanwhile,  Huascar,  —  who,  you  will  re 
member,  was  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Atahualpa's 
men,  —  having  heard  of  the  arrangement,  sent  word 
to  the  Spaniards  setting  forth  his  own  claims.  Pizarro 
ordered  that  he  should  be  brought  to  Caxamarca  to 
tell  his  story.  The  only  way  to  learn  which  of  the  rival 
war-  captains  was  right  in  his  claims  was  to  bring  them 
together  and  weigh  their  respective  pretensions.  But 
this  by  no  mean  suited  Atahualpa.  Before  Huascar 
could  be  brought  to  Caxamarca  he  was  assassinated 
by  his  Indian  keepers,  the  henchmen  of  Atahualpa,  — 
and,  it  is  commonly  agreed,  by  Atahualpa's  orders. 
17 


258  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

The  gold  and  silver  for  the  ransom  came  in  slowly. 
Historically  there  is  no  doubt  what  was  Atahualpa's 
plan  in  the  whole  arrangement.  He  was  merely 
buying  time,  —  alluring  the  Spaniards  to  wait  and 
wait,  until  he  could  collect  his  forces  to  his  rescue, 
and  then  wipe  out  the  invaders.  This,  indeed,  began 
to  dawn  on  the  Spaniards.  Tempting  as  was  the 
golden  bait,  they  suspected  the  trap  behind  it.  It 
was  not  long  before  their  fears  were  confirmed.  They 
began  to  learn  of  the  secret  rallying  of  the  Indian 
forces.  The  news  grew  worse  and  worse  ;  and  even 
the  daily  arrival  of  gold  —  some  days  as  high  as 
$50,000  in  weight  —  could  not  blind  them  to  the 
growing  danger. 

It  was  necessary  to  learn  more  of  the  situation 
than  they  could  know  while  shut  up  in  Caxamarca ; 
and  Hernando  Pizarro  was  sent  out  with  a  small 
force  to  scout  to  Guamachucho  and  thence  to  Pacha- 
camac,  three  hundred  miles.  It  was  a  difficult  and 
dangerous  reconnoissance,  but  full  of  interest.  Their 
way  along  the  table-land  of  the  Cordillera  was  a  toil 
some  one.  The  story  of  great  military  roads  is  largely 
a  myth,  though  much  had  been  done  to  improve 
the  trails,  —  a  good  deal  after  the  rude  fashion  of 
the  Pueblos  of  New  Mexico,  but  on  a  larger  scale. 
The  improvements,  however,  had  been  only  to 
adapt  the  trails  for  the  sure-footed  llama ;  and  the 
Spanish  horses  could  with  great  difficulty  be  hauled 
and  pushed  up  the  worst  parts.  Especially  were 
the  Spaniards  impressed  with  the  rude  but  effective 
swinging  bridges  of  vines,  with  which  the  Indians 


•vv 


THE   GOLDEN  RANSOM.  259 

had  spanned  narrow  but  fearful  chasms;  yet  even 
these  swaying  paths  were  most  difficult  to  be  crossed 
with  horses. 

After  several  weeks  of  severe  travel,  the  party 
reached  Pachacamac  without  opposition.  The  fa 
mous  temple  there  had  been  stripped  of  its  treasures, 
but  its  famous  god  —  an  ugly  idol  of  wood  —  re 
mained.  The  Spaniards  dethroned  and  smashed 
this  pagan  fetich,  purified  the  temple,  and  set  up 
in  it  a  large  cross  to  dedicate  it  to  God.  They 
explained  to  the  natives,  as  best  they  could,  the 
nature  of  Christianity,  and  tried  to  induce  them 
to  adopt  it. 

Here  it  was  learned  that  Chalicuchima,  one  of 
Atahualpa's  subordinate  war-captains,  was  at  Xauxa 
with  a  large  force ;  and  Hernando  decided  to  visit 
him.  The  horses  were  in  ill  shape  for  so  hard  a 
march ;  for  their  shoes  had  been  entirely  worn  out 
in  the  tedious  journey,  and  how  to  shoe  them  was 
a  puzzle  :  there  was  no  iron  in  Peru.  But  Her 
nando  met  the  difficulty  with  a  startling  expedient. 
If  there  was  no  iron,  there  was  plenty  of  silver; 
and  in  a  short  time  the  Spanish  horses  were  shod 
with  that  precious  metal,  and  ready  for  the  march 
to  Xauxa.  It  was  an  arduous  journey,  but  well 
worth  making.  Chalicuchima  voluntarily  decided 
to  go  with  the  Spaniards  to  Caxamarca  to  consult 
with  his  superior,  Atahualpa.  Indeed,  it  was  just 
the  chance  he  desired.  A  personal  conference 
would  enable  them  to  see  exactly  what  was  best  to 
be  done  to  get  rid  of  these  mysterious  strangers. 


260  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

So  the  adventurous  Spaniards  and  the  wily  sub-chief 
got  back  at  last  to  Caxamarca  together. 

Meanwhile  Atahualpa  had  fared  very  well  at  the 
hands  of  his  captors.  Much  as  they  had  reason  to 
distrust,  and  did  distrust,  the  treacherous  Indian, 
they  treated  him  not  only  humanely  but  with  the 
utmost  kindness.  He  lived  in  luxury  with  his  family 
and  retainers,  and  was  much  associated  with  the 
Spaniards.  They  seem  to  have  been  trying  their  ut 
most  to  make  him  their  friend,  —  which  was  Pizar- 
ro's  principle  all  along.  Prejudiced  historians  can 
find  no  answer  to  one  significant  fact.  The  Indi 
ans  came  to  regard  Pizarro  and  his  brothers  Gonzalo 
and  Juan  as  their  friends,  —  and  an  Indian,  suspi 
cious  and  observant  far  beyond  us,  is  one  of  the  last 
men  in  the  world  to  be  fooled  in  such  things.  Had 
the  Pizarros  been  the  cruel,  merciless  men  that 
partisan  and  ill-informed  writers  have  represented 
them  to  be,  the  aborigines  would  have  been  the  first 
to  see  it  and  to  hate  them.  The  fact  that  the  people 
they  conquered  became  their  friends  and  admirers  is 
the  best  of  testimony  to  their  humanity  and  justice. 

Atahualpa  was  even  taught  to  play  chess  and 
other  European  games;  and  besides  these  efforts 
for  his  amusement,  pains  was  also  taken  to  give 
him  more  and  more  understanding  of  Christianity. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  his  unfriendly  plots  were 
continually  going  on. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  the  three  emissaries  who 
had  been  sent  to  Cuzco  for  a  portion  of  the  ransom 
got  back  to  Caxamarca  with  a  great  treasure.  From 


THE  GOLDEN  RANSOM.  261 

the  famous  Temple  of  the  Sun  alone  the  Indians 
had  given  them  seven  hundred  golden  plates ;  and 
that  was  only  a  part  of  the  payment  from  Cuzco. 
The  messengers  brought  back  two  hundred  loads 
of  gold  and  twenty-five  of  silver,  each  load  being 
carried  on  a  sort  of  hand-barrow  by  four  Indians. 
This  great  contribution  swelled  the  ransom  per 
ceptibly,  though  the  room  was  not  yet  nearly  filled 
to  the  mark  agreed  upon.  Pizarro,  however,  was 
not  a  Shylock.  The  ransom  was  not  complete,  but 
it  was  enough ;  and  he  had  his  notary  draw  up 
a  document  formally  freeing  Atahualpa  from  any 
further  payment,  —  in  fact,  giving  him  a  receipt  in 
full.  But  he  felt  obliged  to  delay  setting  the  war- 
captain  at  liberty.  The  murder  of  Huascar  and 
similar  symptoms  showed  that  it  would  be  suicidal 
to  turn  Atahualpa  loose  now.  His  intentions,  though 
masked,  were  fully  suspected,  and  so  Pizarro  told 
him  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  keep  him  as  a 
hostage  a  little  longer.  Before  it  would  be  safe  for 
him  to  release  Atahualpa  he  knew  that  he  must  have 
a  larger  force  to  withstand  the  attack  which  Atahualpa 
was  sure  at  once  to  organize.  He  was  rather  better 
acquainted  with  the  Indian  vindictiveness  than  some 
of  his  closet  critics  are. 

Meantime  Almagro  had  at  last  got  away  from  Pan 
ama  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  foot  and  fifty  horse, 
in  three  vessels ;  and  landing  in  Peru,  he  reached 
San  Miguel  in  December,  1532.  Here  he  heard 
with  astonishment  of  Pizarro's  magical  success,  and 
of  the  golden  booty,  and  at  once  communicated 
with  him.  At  the  same  time  his  secretary  secretly 


262  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

forwarded  a  treacherous  letter  to  Pizarro,  trying  to 
arouse  enmity  and  betray  Almagro.  The  secretary 
had  gone  to  the  wrong  man,  however,  for  Pizarro 
spurned  the  contemptible  offer.  Indeed,  his  treat 
ment  of  his  unadmirable  associate  from  first  to  last 
was  more  than  just ;  it  was  forbearing,  friendly,  and 
magnanimous  to  a  degree.  He  now  sent  Almagro 
assurance  of  his  friendship,  and  generously  welcomed 
him  to  share  the  golden  field  which  had  been  won 
with  very  little  help  from  him.  Almagro  reached 
Caxamarca  in  February,  1533,  and  was  cordially 
received  by  his  old  companion-in-arms. 

The  vast  ransom  —  a  treasure  to  which  there  is 
no  parallel  in  history  —  was  now  divided.  This 
division  in  itself  was  a  labor  involving  no  small 
prudence  and  skill.  The  ransom  was  not  in  coin 
or  ingots,  but  in  plates,  vessels,  images,  and  trinkets 
varying  greatly  in  weight  and  in  purity.  It  had  to 
be  reduced  to  something  like  a  common  standard. 
Some  of  the  most  remarkable  specimens  were  saved 
to  send  to  Spain ;  the  rest  was  melted  down  to  in 
gots  by  the  Indian  smiths,  who  were  busy  a  month 
with  the  task.  The  result  was  almost  fabulous. 
There  were  1,326,539  pesos  de  oro,  commercially 
worth,  in  those  days,  some  five  times  their  weight, — 
that  is,  about  $6,632,695.  Besides  this  vast  sum  of 
gold  there  were  51,610  marks  of  silver,  equivalent 
by  the  same  standard  to  $1,135,420  now. 

The  Spaniards  were  assembled  in  the  public 
square  of  Caxamarca.  Pizarro  prayed  that  God 
would  help  him  to  divide  the  treasure  justly,  and  the 
apportionment  began.  First,  a  fifth  of  the  whole 


THE   GOLDEN  RANSOM.  263 

great  golden  heap  was  weighed  out  for  the  king  of 
Spain,  as  Pizarro  had  promised  in  the  capitulation. 
Then  the  conquerors  took  their  shares  in  the  order 
of  their  rank.  Pizarro  received  57,222  pesos  de  oro, 
and  2,350  marks  of  silver,  besides  the  golden  chair 
of  Atahualpa,  which  weighed  $25,000.  Hernando 
his  brother  got  31,080  pesos  de  oro,  and  2,350  marks 
of  silver.  De  Soto  had  17,749  pesos  de  oro,  and 
724  marks  of  silver.  There  were  sixty  cavalrymen, 
and  most  of  them  received  8,880  pesos  de  oro,  and 
362  marks  of  silver.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  five 
infantry,  part  got  half  as  much  as  the  cavalry  each, 
and  part  one  fourth  less.  Nearly  $100,000  worth 
of  gold  was  set  aside  to  endow  the  first  church 
in  Peru,  —  that  of  St.  Francis.  Shares  were  also 
given  Almagro  and  his  followers,  and  the  men  who 
had  stayed  behind  at  San  Miguel.  That  Pizarro  suc 
ceeded  in  making  an  equitable  division  is  best  evi 
denced  by  the  absence  of  any  complaints,  —  and 
his  associates  were  not  in  the  habit  of  keeping  quiet 
under  even  a  fancied  injustice.  Even  his  defamers 
have,  never  been  able  to  impute  dishonesty  to  the 
gallant  conqueror  of  Peru. 

To  put  in  more  graphic  shape  the  results  of  this 
dazzling  windfall,  we  may  tabulate  the  list,  giving 
each  share  in  its  value  in  dollars  to-day :  — 

To  the  Spanish  Crown     .    .....  $1,553,623 

"  Francisco  Pizarro 462,810 

"  Hernando  Pizarro  ....*...  207,100 

"  De  Soto v  •  104,628 

"  each  cavalryman V  •  52>364 

"  each  infantryman    .    .    ..   ;    .    .    .  26,182 


264  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

All  this  was   besides  the   fortunes   given  Almagro 
and  his  men  and  the  church. 

This  is  the  nearest  statement  that  can  be  made 
of  the  value  of  the  treasure.  The  study  of  the  enor 
mously  complicated  and  varying  currency  values  of 
those  days  is  in  itself  the  work  for  a  whole  lifetime ; 
but  the  above  figures  are  practically  correct.  Pres- 
cott's  estimate  that  the  peso  de  oro  was  worth  eleven 
dollars  at  that  time  is  entirely  unfounded ;  it  was 
close  to  five  dollars.  The  mark  of  silver  is  much 
more  difficult  to  determine,  and  Prescott  does  not 
attempt  it  at  all.  The  mark  was  not  a  coin,  but  a 
weight ;  and  its  commercial  value  was  about  twenty- 
two  dollars  at  that  time. 


AT  AH  U ALP  AS   TREACHERY.  265 


VII. 

ATAHUALPA'S  TREACHERY   AND   DEATH. 

BUT  in  the  midst  of  their  happiness  at  this 
realization  of  their  golden  dreams,  —  and  we 
may  half  imagine  how  they  felt,  after  a  life  of  pov 
erty  and  great  suffering,  at  now  finding  themselves 
rich  men,  —  the  Spaniards  were  rudely  interrupted 
by  less  pleasant  realities.  The  plots  of  the  Indians, 
always  suspected,  now  seemed  unmistakable.  News 
of  an  uprising  came  in  from  every  hand.  It  was 
reported  that  two  hundred  thousand  warriors  from 
Quito  and  thirty  thousand  of  the  cannibal  Caribs 
were  on  their  way  to  fall  upon  the  little  Spanish 
force.  Such  rumors  are  always  exaggerated ;  but 
this  was  probably  founded  on  fact.  Nothing  else 
was  to  be  expected  by  any  one  even  half  so  familiar 
with  the  Indian  character  as  the  Spaniards  were. 
At  all  events,  our  judgment  of  what  followed  must  be 
guided  not  merely  by  what  was  true,  but  even  more 
by  what  the  Spaniards  believed  to  be  true.  They 
had  reason  to  believe,  and  there  can  be  no  ques 
tion  whatever  that  they  did  believe,  that  Atahualpa's 
machinations  were  bringing  a  vastly  superior  force 
down  upon  them,  and  that  they  were  in  imminent 
peril  of  their  lives.  Their  newly  acquired  wealth 


266  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

only  made  them  the  more  nervous.  It  is  a  curious 
but  common  phase  of  human  nature  that  we  do  not 
realize  half  so  much  the  many  hidden  dangers  to 
our  lives  until  we  have  acquired  something  which 
makes  life  seem  better  worth  the  living.  One  may 
often  see  how  a  fearless  man  suddenly  becomes  cau 
tious,  and  even  laughably  fearful,  when  he  gets  a 
dear  wife  or  child  to  think  of  and  protect ;  and  I 
doubt  if  any  stirring  boy  has  come  to  twenty  years 
without  suddenly  being  reminded,  by  the  posses 
sion  of  some  little  treasure,  how  many  things  might 
happen  to  rob  him  of  the  chance  to  enjoy  it.  He 
sees  and  feels  dangers  that  he  had  never  thought 
of  before. 

The  Spaniards  certainly  had  cause  enough  to  be 
alarmed  for  their  lives,  without  any  other  consid 
eration  ;  but  the  sudden  treasure  which  gave  those 
lives  such  promise  of  new  and  hard-earned  bright 
ness  undoubtedly  made  their  apprehensions  more 
acute,  and  spurred  them  to  more  desperate  efforts 
to  escape. 

There  is  not  the  remotest  evidence  of  any 
sort  that  Pizarro  ever  meditated  any  treachery  to 
Atahualpa;  and  there  is  very  strong  circumstantial 
evidence  to  the  contrary.  But  now  his  followers 
began  to  demand  what  seemed  necessary  for  their 
protection.  Atahualpa,  they  believed,  had  betrayed 
them.  He  had  caused  the  murder  of  his  brother 
Huascar,  who  was  disposed  to  make  friends  with  them, 
for  the  sake  of  being  put  by  this  alliance  above  the 
power  of  his  merciless  rival.  He  had  baited  them 


ATAHUALPA'S   TREACHERY.  267 

with  a  golden  ransom,  and  by  delaying  it  had  gained 
time  to  have  his  forces  organized  to  crush  the  Span 
iards,  —  and  now  they  demanded  that  he  must  not 
only  be  punished,  but  be  put  past  further  plotting. 
Their  logic  was  unanswerable  by  any  one  in  the  same 
circumstances ;  nor  can  I  now  bring  myself  to  quarrel 
with  it.  Not  only  did  they  believe  their  accusation 
just,  —  it  probably  was  just ;  at  all  events,  they  acted 
justly  by  the  light  they  had.  So  serious  was  the 
alarm  that  the  guards  were  doubled,  the  horses  were 
kept  constantly  under  saddle  and  bridle,  and  the 
men  slept  on  their  arms ;  while  Pizarro  in  person 
went  the  rounds  every  night  to  see  that  everything 
was  ready  to  meet  the  attack,  which  was  expected 
to  take  place  at  any  moment. 

Yet  in  this  crisis  the  Spanish  leader  showed  a 
manly  unwillingness  even  to  seem  treacherous.  He 
was  a  man  of  his  word,  as  well  as  a  humane  man ; 
and  it  was  hard  for  him  to  break  his  promise  to  set 
Atahualpa  free,  even  when  he  was  fully  absolved  by 
Atahualpa's  own  utter  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
contract.  But  it  was  impossible  to  withstand  the 
demands  of  his  followers;  he  was  responsible  for 
their  lives  as  well  as  his  own,  and  when  it  came 
to  a  question  between  them  and  Atahualpa  there 
could  be  but  one  decision.  Pizarro  opposed,  but 
the  army  insisted,  and  at  last  he  had  to  yield.  Yet 
even  then,  when  the  enemy  might  come  at  any 
moment,  he  insisted  upon  a  full  and  formal  trial 
for  his  prisoner,  and  saw  that  it  was  given.  The 
court  found  Atahualpa  proven  guilty  of  causing  his 


268  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

brother's  murder,  and  of  conspiring  against  the 
Spaniards,  and  condemned  him  to  be  executed  that 
very  night.  If  there  were  any  delay,  the  Indian 
army  might  arrive  in  time  to  rescue  their  war- 
captain,  and  that  would  greatly  increase  the  odds 
against  the  Spaniards.  That  night,  therefore,  in  the 
plaza  of  Caxamarca,  Atahualpa  was  executed  by  the 
garrote;  and  the  next  day  he  was  buried  from 
the  Church  of  St.  Francis  with  the  highest  honors. 

Again  the  Peruvians  were  taken  by  surprise,  this 
time  by  the  death  of  Atahualpa.  Without  the  direc 
tion  of  their  war-captain  and  the  hope  of  rescuing 
him,  they  found  themselves  hesitating  at  a  direct 
attack  upon  the  Spaniards.  They  stayed  at  a  safe 
distance,  burning  villages  and  hiding  gold  and  other 
articles  which  might  "  give  comfort  to  the  enemy ;  " 
and  upon  the  whole,  though  the  immediate  danger 
had  been  averted  by  the  execution  of  the  war- 
captain,  the  outlook  was  still  extremely  ominous. 
Pizarro,  who  did  not  understand  the  Peruvian  titles 
better  than  some  of  our  own  historians  have  done, 
and  in  hope  of  bringing  about  a  more  peaceful  feel 
ing,  appointed  Toparca,  another  son  of  Huayna 
Capac,  to  be  war-captain ;  but  this  appointment 
did  not  have  the  desired  effect. 

It  was  now  decided  to  undertake  the  long  and 
arduous  march  to  Cuzco,  the  home  and  chief  town 
of  the  Inca  tribe,  of  which  they  had  heard  such 
golden  stories.  Early  in  September,  1533,  Pizarro 
and  his  army  —  now  swelled  by  Almagro's  force  to 
some  four  hundred  men  —  set  out  from  Caxamarca. 


ATAHUALPA'S   TREACHERY.  269 

It  was  a  journey  of  great  difficulty  and  danger.  The 
narrow,  steep  trails  led  along  dizzy  cliffs,  across 
bridges  almost  as  difficult  to  walk  as  a  hammock 
would  be,  and  up  rocky  heights  where  there  were 
only  foot-holes  for  the  agile  llama.  At  Xauxa  a 
great  number  of  Indians  were  drawn  up  to  oppose 
them,  intrenched  on  the  farther  side  of  a  freshet- 
swollen  stream.  But  the  Spaniards  dashed  through 
the  torrent,  and  fell  upon  the  savages  so  vigorously 
that  they  presently  gave  way. 

In  this  pretty  valley  Pizarro  had  a  notion  to  found 
a  colony;  and  here  he  made  a  brief  halt,  sending 
De  Soto  ahead  with  a  scouting-party  of  sixty  men. 
De  Soto  began  to  find  ominous  signs  at  once.  Vil 
lages  had  been  burned  and  bridges  destroyed,  so 
that  the  crossing  of  those  awful  quebradas  was  most 
difficult.  Wherever  possible,  too,  the  road  had 
been  blocked  with  logs  and  rocks,  so  that  the  pas 
sage  of  the  cavalry  was  greatly  impeded.  Near 
Bilcas  he  had  a  sharp  brush  with  the  Indians ;  and 
though  the  Spaniards  were  victorious,  they  lost  sev 
eral  men.  De  Soto,  however,  resolutely  pushed  on. 
Just  as  the  wearied  little  troop  was  toiling  up  the 
steep  and  winding  defile  of  the  Vilcaconga,  the 
wild  whoop  of  the  Indians  rang  out,  and  a  host  of 
warriors  sprang  from  their  hiding-places  behind 
rock  and  tree,  and  fell  with  fury  upon  the  Span 
iards.  The  trail  was  steep  and  narrow,  the  horses 
could  barely  keep  their  footing ;  and  under  the 
crash  of  this  dusky  avalanche  rider  and  horse  went 
rolling  down  the  steep.  The  Indians  fairly  swarmed 


2  70  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

upon  the  Spaniards  like  bees,  trying  to  drag  the  sol 
diers  from  their  saddles,  even  clinging  desperately 
to  the  horses'  legs,  and  dealing  blows  with  agile 
strength.  Farther  up  the  rocky  pathway  was  a  level 
space ;  and  De  Soto  saw  that  unless  he  could  gain 
this,  all  was  lost.  By  a  supreme  effort  of  muscle  and 
will,  he  brought  his  little  band  to  the  top  against  such 
heavy  odds  ;  and  after  a  brief  rest,  he  made  a  charge 
upon  the  Indians,  but  could  not  break  that  grim, 
dark  mass.  Night  came  on,  and  the  worn  and  bleed 
ing  Spaniards  —  for  few  men  or  horses  had  escaped 
without  wounds  from  that  desperate  mele'e,  and  sev 
eral  of  both  had  been  killed  —  rested  as  best  they 
might  with  weapons  in  their  hands.  The  Indians 
were  fully  confident  of  finishing  them  on  the  mor 
row,  and  the  Spaniards  themselves  had  little  room 
for  hope  to  the  contrary.  But  far  in  the  night  they 
suddenly  heard  Spanish  bugles  in  the  pass  below, 
and  a  little  later  were  embracing  their  unexpected 
countrymen,  and  thanking  God  for  their  deliverance. 
Pizarro,  learning  of  the  earlier  dangers  of  their 
march,  had  hurriedly  despatched  Almagro  with  a 
considerable  force  of  cavalry  to  help  De  Soto ;  and 
the  reinforcement  by  forced  marches  arrived  just 
in  the  nick  of  time.  The  Peruvians,  seeing  in  the 
morning  that  the  enemy  was  reinforced,  pressed  the 
fight  no  further,  and  retreated  into  the  mountains. 
The  Spaniards,  moving  on  to  a  securer  place,  camped 
to  await  Pizarro. 

He   soon  came  up,  having  left   the  treasure  at 
Xauxa,  with  forty  men  to  guard  it.      But  he  was 


AT  AH  U ALP  AS   TREACHERY.  271 

greatly  troubled  by  the  aspect  of  affairs.  These 
organized  and  audacious  attacks  by  the  enemy,  and 
the  sudden  death  of  Toparca  under  suspicious  cir 
cumstances,  led  him  to  believe  that  Chalicuchima, 
the  second  war-captain,  was  acting  treacherously,  — 
as  he  very  probably  was.  After  rejoining  Almagro, 
Pizarro  had  Chalicuchima  tried ;  and  being  found 
guilty  of  treason,  he  was  promptly  executed.  We 
cannot  help  being  horrified  at  the  manner  of  the 
execution,  which  was  by  fire ;  but  we  must  not  be 
too  hasty  in  calling  the  responsible  individual  a 
cruel  man  for  all  that.  All  such  things  must  be 
measured  by  comparison,  and  by  the  general  spirit 
of  the  age.  The  world  did  not  then  deem  the  stake 
a  cruelty;  and  more  than  a  hundred  years  later, 
when  the  world  was  much  more  enlightened,  Chris 
tians  in  England  and  France  and  New  England  saw 
no  harm  in  that  sort  of  an  execution  for  certain 
offences,  —  and  surely  we  shall  not  say  that  our 
Puritan  forefathers  were  wicked  and  cruel  men. 
They  hanged  witches  and  whipped  infidels,  not  from 
cruelty,  but  from  the  blind  superstition  of  their 
time.  It  seems  a  hideous  thing  now,  but  it  was  not 
thought  so  then;  and  we  must  not  expect  that 
Pizarro  should  be  wiser  and  better  than  the  men 
who  had  so  many  advantages  that  he  had  not.  I 
certainly  wish  that  he  had  not  allowed  Chalicuchima 
to  be  burned  ;  but  I  also  wish  that  the  shocking  pages 
of  Salem  and  slavery  could  be  blotted  from  our  own 
story.  In  neither  case,  however,  would  I  brand  Pizarro 
as  a  monster,  nor  the  Puritans  as  a  cruel  people. 


272  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

At  this  juncture,  the  Inca  Indian  Manco  came 
in  gorgeous  fashion  to  Pizarro  and  proposed  an  alli 
ance.  He  claimed  to  be  the  rightful  war-chief,  and 
desired  that  the  Spaniards  recognize  him  as  such. 
His  proposition  was  gladly  accepted. 

Moving  onward,  the  Spaniards  were  again  am 
bushed  in  a  defile,  but  beat  off  their  assailants ;  and 
at  last  entered  Cuzco  November  15,  1533.  It  was  the 
largest  Indian  "  city  "  in  the  western  hemisphere, 
though  not  greatly  larger  than  the  pueblo  of  Mex 
ico  ;  and  its  superior  buildings  and  furnishings  filled 
the  Spaniards  with  wonder.  A  great  deal  of  gold 
was  found  in  caves  and  other  hiding-places.  In  one 
spot  were  several  large  gold  vases,  gold  and  silver 
images  of  llamas  and  human  beings,  and  cloths 
adorned  with  gold  and  silver  beads.  Among  other 
treasures  Pedro  Pizarro,  an  eye-witness  and  chroni 
cler,  mentions  ten  rude  "  planks  "  of  silver  twenty 
feet  long,  a  foot  wide,  and  two  inches  thick.  The 
total  treasure  secured  footed  up  580,200  pesos  de 
oro  and  215,000  marks  of  silver,  or  an  equivalent 
of  about  $7,600,000. 

Pizarro  now  formally  crowned  Manco  as  " ruler" 
of  Peru,  and  the  natives  seemed  very  well  pleased. 
Good  Father  Valverde  was  made  bishop  of  Cuzco ; 
a  cathedral  was  founded ;  and  the  devoted  Spanish 
missionaries  began  actively  the  work  of  educating 
and  converting  the  heathen,  —  a  work  which  they 
continued  with  their  usual  effectiveness. 

Quizquiz,  one  of  Atahualpa's  subordinate  war- 
captains  and  a  leader  of  no  small  prowess,  still 


ATAHUALPA'S    TREACHERY.  273 

kept  the  field.  Almagro  with  a  few  cavalry,  and 
Manco  with  his  native  followers,  were  sent  out 
and  routed  the  hostiles ;  but  Quizquiz  held  out 
until  put  to  death  by  his  own  men. 

In  March,  1534,  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  Cortez's 
gallant  lieutenant,  who  had  been  rewarded  for  his 
services  in  Mexico  by  being  made  governor  of 
Guatemala,  landed  and  marched  on  Quito,  only  to 
discover  that  it  was  in  Pizarro's  territory.  A 
compromise  was  made  between  him  and  Pizarro ; 
Alvarado  received  a  compensation  for  his  fruitless 
expedition,  and  went  back  to  Guatemala. 

Pizarro  was  now  very  busy  in  developing  the  new 
country  he  had  conquered,  and  in  laying  the  corner 
stone  of  a  nation.  January  6,  1535,  he  founded  the 
Ciudad  de  los  Reyes,  the  City  of  the  Kings,  in  the 
lovely  valley  of  Rimac.  The  name  was  soon  changed 
to  Lima ;  and  Lima,  the  capital  of  Peru,  remains  to 
this  day.  The  remarkable  conqueror  was  now  show 
ing  another  side  of  his  character,  —  his  genius  as  an 
organizer  and  administrator  of  affairs.  He  addressed 
himself  to  the  task  of  upbuilding  Lima  with  energy, 
and  his  direction  of  all  the  affairs  of  his  young  gov 
ernment  showed  great  foresight  and  wisdom. 

Meantime  Hernando,  his  brother,  had  been  sent 
to  Spain  with  the  treasure  for  the  Crown,  arriving 
there  in  January,  1534.  Besides  the  "  royal  fifth  " 
he  carried  half  a  million  pesos  de  oro  belonging  to 
those  adventurers  who  had  decided  to  enjoy  their 
money  at  home.  Hernando  made  a  great  impression 
in  Spain.  The  Crown  fully  confirmed  all  former 
18 


274  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

grants  to  Pizarro,  and  extended  his  territory  seventy 
leagues  to  the  south ;  while  Almagro  was  empowered 
to  conquer  Chile  (then  called  New  Toledo),  begin 
ning  at  the  south  end  of  Pizarro' s  domain  and  run 
ning  south  two  hundred  leagues.  Hernando  was 
knighted,  and  given  command  of  an  expedition, — 
one  of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  that  had  sailed 
from  Spain.  He  and  his  followers  had  a  terrible 
time  in  getting  back  to  Peru,  and  many  perished 
on  the  way. 


FOUNDING  A  NATION. 


275 


VIII. 

FOUNDING  A  NATION.  — THE  SIEGE  OF 
CUZCO. 

BUT  before  Hernando  reached  Peru,  one  of  his 
company  carried  thither  to  Almagro  the  news 
of  his  promotion;  and  this  prosperity  at  once 
turned  the  head  of  the  coarse  and  unprincipled 
soldier.  Forgetful  of  all  Pizarro's  favors,  and  that 
Pizarro  had  made  him  all  he  was,  the  false  friend  at 
once  set  himself  up  as  master  of  Cuzco. 

It  was  shameful  ingratitude  and  rascality,  and 
very  nearly  precipitated  the  Spaniards  into  a  civil 
war.  But  the  forbearance  of  Pizarro  bridged  the 
difficulty  at  last;  and  on  the  1 2th  of  June,  1535,  the 
two  captains  renewed  their  friendly  agreement. 
Almagro  soon  marched  off  to  try  —  and  to  fail  in  — 
the  conquest  of  Chile  ;  and  Pizarro  turned  his  atten 
tion  again  to  developing  his  conquered  province. 

In  the  few  years  of  his  administrative  career 
Pizarro  achieved  remarkable  results.  He  founded 
several  new  towns  on  the  coast,  naming  one  Trux- 
illo  in  memory  of  his  birthplace.  Above  all,  he 
delighted  in  upbuilding  and  beautifying  his  favorite 
city  of  Lima,  and  promoting  commerce  and  other 
necessary  factors  in  the  development  of  the  new 


276  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

nation.  How  wise  were  his  provisions  is  attested 
by  a  striking  contrast.  When  the  Spaniards  first 
came  to  Caxamarca  a  pair  of  spurs  was  worth  $250 
in  gold  !  A  few  years  before  Pizarro's  death  the 
first  cow  brought  to  Peru  was  sold  for  $10,000 ;  two 
years  later  the  best  cow  in  Peru  could  be  bought 
for  less  than  $200.  The  first  barrel  of  wine  sold  for 
$1600;  but  three  years  later  native  wine  had  taken 
the  place  of  imported,  and  was  to  be  had  in  Lima 
at  a  cheap  price.  So  it  was  with  almost  everything. 
A  sword  had  been  worth  $250;  a  cloak,  $500;  a 
pair  of  shoes,  $200;  a  horse,  $10,000;  but  under 
Pizarro's  surprising  business  ability  it  took  but  two 
or  three  years  to  place  the  staples  of  life  within  the 
reach  of  every  one.  He  encouraged  not  only  com 
merce  but  home  industry,  and  developed  agriculture, 
mining,  and  the  mechanical  arts.  Indeed,  he  was 
carrying  out  with  great  success  that  general  Spanish 
principle  that  the  chief  wealth  of  a  country  is  not  its 
gold  or  its  timber  or  its  lands,  but  its  people.  It 
was  everywhere  the  attempt  of  the  Spanish  Pioneers 
to  uplift  and  Christianize  and  civilize  the  savage 
inhabitants,  so  as  to  make  them  worthy  citizens  of 
the  new  nation,  instead  of  wiping  them  off  the  face 
of  the  earth  to  make  room  for  the  new-comers,  as 
has  been  the  general  fashion  of  some  European 
conquests.  Now  and  then  there  were  mistakes  and 
crimes  by  individuals ;  but  the  great  principle  of 
wisdom  and  humanity  marks  the  whole  broad  course 
of  Spain,  —  a  course  which  challenges  the  admira 
tion  of  every  manly  man. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  CUZCO.  277 

While  Pizarro  was  busy  with  his  work,  Manco 
showed  his  true  colors.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable 
that  he  had  meditated  treachery  throughout,  and 
had  made  alliance  with  the  Spaniards  simply  to  get 
them  in  his  power.  At  all  events  he  now  suddenly 
slipped  away,  without  provocation,  to  raise  forces  to 
attack  the  Spaniards,  thinking  to  overcome  them 
while  they  were  scattered  at  work  in  their  various 
colonies.  The  loyal  Indians  warned  Juan  Pizarro, 
who  captured  and  imprisoned  Manco.  Just  then 
Hernando  Pizarro  arrived  from  Spain,  and  Francisco 
gave  him  command  at  Cuzco.  The  wily  Manco 
fooled  Hernando  into  setting  him  free,  and  at  once 
began  to  rally  his  forces.  Juan  was  sent  out  with 
sixty  mounted  men,  and  finally  met  Manco's  thou 
sands  at  Yucay.  In  a  terrible  struggle  of  two  days 
the  Spaniards  held  their  ground,  though  with  heavy 
loss,  and  then  were  startled  by  a  messenger  with 
the  news  that  Cuzco  itself  was  besieged  by  the  sav 
ages.  By  a  forced  march  they  got  back  to  the  city 
by  nightfall,  and  found  it  surrounded  by  a  vast  host. 
The  Indians  suffered  them  to  enter,  —  evidently 
desiring  to  have  all  their  mice  in  one  trap,  —  and 
then  closed  in  upon  the  doomed  city. 

Hernando  and  Juan  were  now  shut  up  in  Cuzco. 
They  had  less  than  two  hundred  men,  while  outside, 
the  slopes  far  and  near  were  dotted  with  the  camp- 
fires  of  the  enemy,  —  so  innumerable  as  to  seem 
"  like  a  sky  full  of  stars."  Early  in  the  morning 
(in  February,  1536),  the  Indians  attacked.  They 
hurled  into  the  town  fire-balls  and  burning  arrows, 


278  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

and  soon  had  set  fire  to  the  thatched  roofs.  The 
Spaniards  could  not  extinguish  the  fire,  which  raged 
for  several  days.  The  only  thing  that  saved  them 
from  being  smothered  or  roasted  to  death  was  the 
public  square,  in  which  they  huddled.  They  made 
several  sallies,  but  the  Indians  had  driven  stakes 
and  prepared  other  obstacles  in  which  the  horses 
became  entangled. 

The  Spaniards,  however,  cleared  the  road  under 
a  fierce  fire  and  made  a  gallant  charge,  which  was 
as  gallantly  resisted.  The  Indians  were  expert  not 
only  with  the  bow  but  with  the  reata  as  well,  and 
many  Spaniards  were  lassoed  and  slain.  The  charge 
drove  the  savages  back  somewhat,  but  at  heavy  cost 
to  the  Spaniards,  who  had  to  return  to  town.  They 
had  no  chance  for  rest ;  the  Indians  kept  up  their 
harrying  assaults,  and  the  outlook  was  very  black. 
Francisco  Pizarro  was  besieged  in  Lima ;  Xauxa  was 
also  blockaded;  and  the  Spaniards  in  the  smaller 
colonies  had  been  overpowered  and  slain.  Their 
ghastly  heads  were  hurled  into  Cuzco,  and  rolled  at 
the  feet  of  their  despairing  countrymen.  The  case 
seemed  so  hopeless  that  many  were  for  trying  to  cut 
through  the  Indians  and  escape  to  the  coast;  but 
Hernando  and  Juan  would  not  hear  of  it. 

Upon  the  hill  overlooking  Cuzco  was  —  and  is 
to  this  day  —  the  remarkable  Inca  fortress  of  the 
Sacsahuaman.  It  is  a  cyclopean  work.  On  the  side 
toward  the  city,  the  almost  impregnable  bluff  was 
made  fully  impregnable  by  a  huge  wall  twelve  hun 
dred  feet  long  and  of  great  thickness.  On  the  other 


THE  SIEGE  OP  CUZCO.  279 

side  of  the  hill  the  gentler  slope  was  guarded  by  two 
walls,  one  above  the  other,  and  each  twelve  hundred 
feet  long.  The  stones  in  these  walls  were  fitted  to 
gether  with  surprising  skill ;  and  some  single  stones 
were  thirty- eight  feet  long,  eighteen  feet  wide,  and 
six  feet  thick  !  And,  most  wonderful  of  all,  they 
had  been  quarried  at  least  twelve  miles  away,  and 
then  transported  by  the  Indians  to  their  present 
site  !  The  top  of  the  hill  was  further  defended  by 
great  stone  towers. 

This  remarkable  aboriginal  fortress  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Indians,  and  enabled  them  to  harass  the 
beleaguered  Spaniards  much  more  effectively.  It 
was  plain  that  they  must  be  dislodged.  As  a  prelim 
inary  to  this  forlorn  hope,  the  Spaniards  sallied  out  in 
three  detachments,  commanded  by  Gonzalo  Pizarro, 
Gabriel  de  Rojas,  and  Hernando  Ponce  de  Leon,  to 
beat  off  the  Indians.  The  fighting  was  thoroughly 
desperate.  The  Indians  tried  to  crush  their  enemies 
to  the  earth  by  the  mad  rush  of  numbers ;  but  at 
last  the  Spaniards  forced  the  stubborn  foe  to  give 
ground,  and  fell  back  to  the  city. 

For  the  task  of  storming  the  Sacsahuaman  Juan 
Pizarro  was  chosen,  and  the  forlorn  hope  could 
not  have  been  intrusted  to  a  braver  cavalier. 
Marching  out  of  Cuzco  about  sunset  with  his  little 
force,  Juan  went  off  as  if  to  forage ;  but  as  soon 
as  it  was  dark  he  turned,  made  a  detour,  and  hur 
ried  to  the  Sacsahuaman.  The  great  Indian  fort 
was  dark  and  still.  Its  gateway  had  been  closed 
with  great  stones,  built  up  like  the  solid  masonry  j 


280  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

and  these  the  Spaniards  had  much  difficulty  in  re 
moving  without  noise.  When  at  last  they  passed 
through  and  were  between  the  two  giant  walls,  a 
host  of  Indians  fell  upon  them.  Juan  left  half  his 
force  to  engage  the  savages,  and  with  the  other  half 
opened  the  gateway  in  the  second  wall  which  had 
been  similarly  closed.  When  the  Spaniards  suc 
ceeded  in  capturing  the  second  wall,  the  Indians  re 
treated  to  their  towers ;  and  these  last  and  deadliest 
strongholds  were  to  be  stormed.  The  Spaniards 
assaulted  them  with  that  characteristic  valor  which 
faltered  at  no  odds  of  Nature  or  of  man,  but  at  the 
first  onset  met  an  irreparable  loss.  Brave  Juan 
Pizarro  had  been  wounded  in  the  jaw,  and  his  hel 
met  so  chafed  the  wound  that  he  snatched  it  off  and 
led  the  assault  bareheaded.  In  the  storm  of  Indian 
missiles  a  rock  smote  him  upon  his  unprotected 
skull  and  felled  him  to  the  ground.  Yet  even  as  he 
lay  there  in  his  agony  and  weltering  in  his  blood,  he 
shouted  encouragement  to  his  men,  and  cheered  them 
on,  —  Spanish  pluck  to  the  last.  He  was  tenderly 
removed  to  Cuzco  and  given  every  care ;  but  the 
broken  head  was  past  mending,  and  after  a  few  days 
of  agony  the  Flickering  life  went  out  forever. 

The  Indians  still  held  their  stronghold  ;  and  leav 
ing  his  brother  Gonzalo  in  charge  of  beleaguered 
Cuzco,  Hernando  Pizarro  sallied  out  with  a  new 
force  to  attack  the  towers  of  the  Sacsahuaman.  It 
was  a  desperate  assault,  but  a  successful  one  at  last. 
One  tower  was  soon  captured ;  but  in  the  other  and 
stronger  one  the  issue  was  long  doubtful.  Conspic- 


THE  SIEGE  OF  CUZCO.  281 

uous  among  its  defenders  was  a  huge  and  fearless 
Indian,  who  toppled  over  the  ladders  and  struck 
down  the  Spaniards  as  fast  as  they  could  scale  the 
tower.  His  valor  filled  the  soldiers  with  admira 
tion.  Heroes  themselves,  they  could  see  and  re 
spect  heroism  even  in  an  enemy.  Hernando  gave 
strict  orders  that  this  brave  Indian  should  not  be 
hurt.  He  must  be  overpowered,  but  not  struck 
down.  Several  ladders  were  planted  on  different 
sides  of  the  tower,  and  the  Spaniards  made  a  simul 
taneous  rush,  Hernando  shouting  to  the  Indian  that 
he  should  be  preserved  if  he  would  yield.  But  the 
swarthy  Hercules,  seeing  that  the  day  was  lost,  drew 
his  mantle  over  his  head  and  face,  and  sprang  off 
the  lofty  tower,  to  be  dashed  to  pieces  at  its  base. 

The  Sacsahuaman  was  captured,  though  at  heavy 
cost,  and  thereby  the  offensive  power  of  the  savages 
was  materially  lessened.  Hernando  left  a  small  gar 
rison  to  hold  the  fortress  and  returned  to  the  invested 
city,  there  with  his  companions  to  bear  the  cruel  for 
tunes  of  the  siege.  For  five  months  the  siege  of 
Cuzco  lasted ;  and  they  were  five  months  of  great 
suffering  and  danger.  Manco  and  his  host  hung 
upon  the  starving  city,  fell  with  deadly  fury  upon 
the  parties  that  were  driven  by  hunger  to  sally  out 
for  food,  and  harassed  the  survivors  incessantly.  All 
the  outlying  Spanish  colonists  had  been  massacred, 
and  matters  grew  daily  darker. 

Francisco  Pizarro,  beleaguered  in  Lima,  had 
beaten  off  the  Indians,  thanks  to  the  favorable  na 
ture  of  the  country ;  but  they  hovered  always  about. 


282  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

He  was  full  of  anxiety  for  his  men  at  Cuzco,  and 
sent  out  four  successive  expeditions,  aggregating 
four  hundred  men,  to  their  relief.  But  the  rescue- 
parties  were  successively  ambushed  in  the  mountain 
passes,  and  nearly  all  were  slain.  It  is  said  that 
seven  hundred  Spaniards  perished  in  that  unequal 
war.  Some  of  the  men  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
cut  through  to  the  coast,  take  ship,  and  escape  this 
deadly  land ;  but  Pizarro  would  not  hear  to  such 
abandonment  of  their  brave  countrymen  at  Cuzco, 
and  was  resolved  to  stand  by  them  and  save  them, 
or  share  their  fate.  To  remove  the  temptation  to 
selfish  escape,  he  sent  off  the  ships,  with  letters  to 
the  governors  of  Panama,  Guatemala,  Mexico,  and 
Nicaragua  detailing  his  desperate  situation  and 
asking  aid. 

At  last,  in  August,  Manco  raised  the  siege  of 
Cuzco.  His  great  force  was  eating  up  the  country ; 
and  unless  he  set  the  inhabitants  to  their  planting, 
famine  would  presently  be  upon  him.  So,  sending 
most  of  the  Indians  to  their  farms,  he  left  a  large 
force  to  watch  and  harass  the  Spaniards,  and  him 
self  with  a  strong  garrison  retired  to  one  of  his  forts. 
The  Spaniards  now  had  better  success  in  their  forays 
for  food,  and  could  better  stave  off  starvation ;  but 
the  watchful  Indians  were  constantly  attacking  them, 
cutting  off  men  and  small  parties,  and  giving  them 
no  respite.  Their  harassment  was  so  sleepless  and 
so  disastrous  that  to  check  it  Hernando  conceived 
the  audacious  plan  of  capturing  Manco  in  his  strong 
hold.  Setting  out  with  eighty  of  his  best  horsemen 


THE  SIEGE  OF  CUZCO.  283 

and  a  few  infantry,  he  made  a  long,  circuitous  march 
with  great  caution,  and  without  giving  the  alarm. 
Attacking  the  fortress  at  daybreak,  he  thought  to 
take  it  unawares ;  but  behind  those  grim  walls  the 
Indians  were  watching  for  him,  and  suddenly  rising 
they  showered  down  a  perfect  hail  of  missiles  upon 
the  Spaniards.  Three  times  with  the  courage  of 
despair  the  handful  of  soldiers  pressed  on  to  the 
assault,  but  three  times  the  outnumbering  savages 
drove  them  back.  Then  the  Indians  opened  their 
sluice-gates  above  and  flooded  the  field;  and  the 
Spaniards,  reduced  and  bleeding,  had  to  beat  a 
retreat,  hard  pressed  by  the  exultant  foe.  In  this 
dark  hour,  Pizarro  was  suddenly  betrayed  by  the 
man  who,  above  all,  should  have  been  loyal  to 
him,  —  the  coarse  traitor  Almagro. 


284  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


IX. 

THE   WORK   OF   TRAITORS. 

A  LMAGRO  had  penetrated  Chile,  suffering  great 
£\.  hardships  in  crossing  the  mountains.  Again 
he  showed  the  white  feather ;  and,  discouraged  by 
the  very  beginning,  he  turned  and  marched  back  to 
Peru.  He  seems  to  have  concluded  that  it  would 
be  easier  to  rob  his  companion  and  benefactor  than 
to  make  a  conquest  of  his  own,  —  especially  since 
he  learned  how  Pizarro  was  now  beset.  Pizarro, 
learning  of  his  approach,  went  out  to  meet  him. 
Manco  fell  upon  the  Spaniards  on  the  way,  but  was 
repulsed  after  a  hot  fight. 

Despite  Pizarro's  manly  arguments,  Almagro  would 
not  give  up  his  plans.  He  insisted  that  he  should 
be  given  Cuzco,  the  chief  city,  pretending  that  it  was 
south  of  Pizarro's  territory.  It  was  really  within  the 
limits  granted  Pizarro  by  the  Crown,  but  that  would 
have  made  no  difference  with  him.  At  last  a  truce 
was  made  until  a  commission  could  measure  and 
determine  where  Pizarro's  southern  boundary  lay. 
Meantime  Almagro  was  bound  by  a  solemn  oath  to 
keep  his  hands  off.  But  he  was  not  a  man  to  regard 
his  oath  or  his  honor ;  and  on  the  dark  and  stormy 
night  of  April  8,  1537,  he  seized  Cuzco,  killed  the 


THE    WORK  OF   TRAITORS.  285 

guards,  and  made  Hernando  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro 
prisoners.  Just  then  Alonso  de  Alvarado  was  com 
ing  with  a  force  to  the  relief  of  Cuzco ;  but  being 
betrayed  by  one  of  his  own  officers,  he  was  captured 
with  all  his  men  by  Almagro.  Bancroft 

At  this  critical  juncture,  Pizarro  was  strengthened 
by  the  arrival  of  his  old  supporter,  the  licentiate 
Espinosa,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  a 
shipload  of  arms  and  provisions  from  his  great  cousin 
Cortez.  He  started  for  Cuzco,  but  at  the  overpow 
ering  news  of  Almagro's  wanton  treachery,  retreated 
to  Lima  and  fortified  his  little  capital.  He  was 
clearly  anxious  to  avert  bloodshed ;  and  instead  of 
marching  with  an  army  to  punish  the  traitor,  he 
sent  an  embassy,  including  Espinosa,  to  try  to  bring 
Almagro  to  decency  and  reason.  But  the  vulgar 
soldier  was  impervious  to  such  arguments.  He  not 
only  refused  to  give  up  stolen  Cuzco,  but  coolly 
announced  his  determination  to  seize  Lima  also. 
Espinosa  suddenly  and  conveniently  died  in  Alma 
gro's  camp,  and  Hernando  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro 
would  have  been  put  to  death  but  for  the  efforts 
of  Diego  de  Alvarado  (a  brother  of  the  hero  of 
the  Noche  Triste),  who  saved  Almagro  from  add 
ing  this  cruelty  to  his  shame.  Almagro  marched 
down  to  the  coast  to  found  a  port,  leaving  Gonzalo 
under  a  strong  guard  in  Cuzco,  and  taking  Hernando 
with  him  as  a  prisoner.  While  he  was  building  his 
town,  which  he  named  after  himself,  Gonzalo  Pizarro 
and  Alonso  de  Alvarado  made  their  escape  from 
Cuzco  and  reached  Lima  in  safety. 


286  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS, 

Francisco  Pizarro  still  tried  to  keep  from  blows 
with  the  man  who,  though  now  a  traitor,  had  been 
once  his  comrade.  At  last  an  interview  was  ar 
ranged,  and  the  two  leaders  met  at  Mala.  Almagro 
greeted  hypocritically  the  man  he  had  betrayed; 
but  Pizarro  was  of  different  fibre.  He  did  not  wish 
to  be  enemies  with  former  friends ;  but  as  little 
could  he  be  friend  again  to  such  a  person.  He 
met  Almagro's  lying  welcome  with  dignified  cool 
ness.  It  was  agreed  that  the  whole  dispute  should 
be  left  to  the  arbitration  of  Fray  Francisco  de  Boba- 
dilla,  and  that  both  parties  should  abide  by  his  de 
cision.  The  arbitrator  finally  decided  that  a  vessel 
should  be  sent  to  Santiago  to  measure  southward 
from  there,  and  determine  Pizarro's  exact  southern 
boundary.  Meantime  Almagro  was  to  give  up 
Cuzco  and  release  Hernando  Pizarro.  To  this 
perfectly  just  arrangement  the  usurper  refused  to 
agree,  and  again  violated  every  principle  of  honor. 
Hernando  Pizarro  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being 
murdered  ;  and  Francisco,  bound  to  save  his  brother 
at  any  cost,  bought  him  free  by  giving  up  Cuzco. 

At  last,  worn  past  endurance  by  the  continued 
treachery  of  Almagro,  Pizarro  sent  him  warning  that 
the  truce  was  at  an  end,  and  marched  on  Cuzco. 
Almagro  made  every  effort  to  defend  his  stolen 
prize,  but  was  outgeneralled  at  every  step.  He  was 
shattered  by  a  shameful  sickness,  the  penalty  of  his 
base  life,  and  had  to  intrust  the  campaign  to  his 
lieutenant  Orgonez.  On  the  26th  of  April,  1538, 
the  loyal  Spaniards,  under  Hernando  and  Gonzalo 


THE   WORK  OP   TRAITORS.  287 

Pizarro,  Alonso  de  Alvarado,  and  Pedro  de  Valdivia, 
met  Almagro's  forces  at  Las  Salinas.  Hernando 
had  Mass  said,  aroused  his  men  by  recounting  the 
conduct  of  Almagro,  and  led  the  charge  upon  the 
rebels.  A  terrible  struggle  ensued;  but  at  last 
Orgonez  was  slain,  and  then  his  followers  were  soon 
routed.  The  victors  captured  Cuzco  and  made  the 
arch-traitor  prisoner.  He  was  tried  and  convicted 
of  treason,  —  for  in  being  traitor  to  Pizarro,  he  had 
also  been  a  traitor  to  Spain,  —  and  was  sentenced 
to  death.  The  man  who  could  be  so  physically 
brave  in  some  circumstances  was  a  coward  at  the 
last.  He  begged  like  a  craven  to  be  spared ;  but 
his  doom  was  just,  and  Hernando  Pizarro  refused 
to  reverse  the  sentence.  Francisco  Pizarro  had 
started  for  Cuzco;  but  before  he  arrived  Almagro 
was  executed,  and  one  of  the  basest  treacheries  in 
history  was  avenged.  Pizarro  was  shocked  at  the 
news  of  the  execution ;  but  he  could  not  feel  other 
wise  than  that  justice  had  been  done.  Like  the 
man  he  was,  he  had  Diego  de  Almagro,  the  traitor's 
illegitimate  son,  taken  to  his  own  house,  and  cared 
for  as  his  own  child. 

Hernando  Pizarro  now  returned  to  Spain.  There 
he  was  accused  of  cruelties ;  and  the  Spanish  gov 
ernment,  prompter  than  any  other  in  punishing 
offences  of  the  sort,  threw  him  into  prison.  For 
twenty  years  the  gray-haired  prisoner  lived  behind 
the  bars  of  Medina  del  Campo ;  and  when  he  came 
out  his  days  of  work  were  over,  though  he  lived  to 
be  a  hundred  years  old. 


288  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

The  state  of  affairs  in  Peru,  though  improved  by 
the  death  of  Almagro  and  the  crushing  of  his  wicked 
rebellion,  was  still  far  from  secure.  Manco  was 
developing  what  has  since  come  to  be  regarded  as 
the  characteristic  Indian  tactics.  He  had  learned 
that  the  original  fashion  of  rushing  upon  a  foe 
in  mass,  fairly  to  smother  him  under  a  crush  of 
bodies,  would  not  work  against  discipline.  So  he 
took  to  the  tactics  of  harassment  and  ambuscade, 
—  the  policy  of  killing  from  behind,  which  our 
Apaches  learned  in  the  same  way.  He  was  always 
hanging  about  the  Spaniards,  like  a  wolf  about  the 
flock,  waiting  to  pounce  upon  them  whenever  they 
were  off  their  guard,  or  when  a  few  were  separated 
from  the  main  body.  It  is  the  most  telling  mode  of 
warfare,  and  the  hardest  to  combat.  Many  of  the 
Spaniards  fell  victims ;  in  a  single  swoop  he  cut  off 
and  massacred  thirty  of  them.  It  was  useless  to 
pursue  him,  —  the  mountains  gave  him  an  impreg 
nable  retreat.  As  the  only  deliverance  from  this 
harassment,  Pizarro  adopted  a  new  policy.  In  the 
most  dangerous  districts  he  founded  military  posts  ; 
and  around  these  secure  places  towns  grew  rapidly, 
and  the  people  were  able  to  hold  their  own.  Emi 
grants  were  coming  to  the  country,  and  Peru  was 
developing  a  civilized  nation  out  of  them  and  the 
uplifted  natives.  Pizarro  imported  all  sorts  of  Euro 
pean  seeds,  and  farming  became  a  new  and  civilized 
industry. 

Besides  this  development  of  the  new  little  nation, 
Pizarro  was  spreading  the  limits  of  exploration  and 


THE   WORK  OP   TRAITORS.  289 

conquest.  He  sent  out  brave  Pedro  de  Valdivia,  — 
that  remarkable  man  who  conquered  Chile,  and 
made  there  a  history  which  would  be  found  full  of 
thrilling  interest,  were  there  room  to  recount  it  here. 
He  sent  out,  too,  his  brother  Gonzalo  as  governor  of 
Quito,  in  1540.  That  expedition  was  one  of  the 
most  astounding  and  characteristic  feats  of  Spanish 
exploration  in  the  Americas ;  and  I  wish  space  per 
mitted  the  full  story  of  it  to  enter  here.  For  nearly 
two  years  the  knightly  leader  and  his  little  band 
suffered  superhuman  hardships.  They  froze  to 
death  in  the  snows  of  the  Andes,  and  died  of  heat 
in  the  desert  plains,  and  fell  in  the  forest  swamps 
of  the  upper  Amazon.  An  earthquake  swallowed 
an  Indian  town  of  hundreds  of  houses  before  their 
eyes.  Their  way  through  the  tropic  forests  had  to 
be  hewn  step  by  step.  They  built  a  little  brigantine 
with  incredible  toil,  —  Gonzalo  working  as  hard  as 
any,  —  and  descended  the  Napo  to  the  Amazon. 
Francisco  de  Orellana  and  fifty  men  could  not  rejoin 
their  companions,  and  floated  down  the  Amazon  to 
the  sea,  whence  the  survivors  got  to  Spain.  Gonzalo 
at  last  had  to  struggle  back  to  Quito,  —  a  journey 
of  almost  matchless  horror.  Of  the  three  hundred 
gallant  men  who  had  marched  forth  so  blithely  in 
1540  (not  including  Ore  liana's  fifty),  there  were  but 
eighty  tattered  skeletons  who  staggered  into  Quito 
in  June,  1542.  This  may  give  some  faint  idea  of 
what  they  had  been  through. 

Meanwhile  an  irreparable  calamity  had  befallen  the 
young  nation,  and  robbed  it  at  one  dastardly  blow  of 
19 


290  THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 

one  of  its  most  heroic  figures.  The  baser  followers 
who  had  shared  the  treachery  of  Almagro  had  been 
pardoned,  and  well-treated ;  but  their  natures  were 
unchanged,  and  they  continued  to  plot  against  the 
wise  and  generous  man  who  had  "  made  "  them  all. 
Even  Diego  de  Almagro,  whom  Pizarro  had  reared 
tenderly  as  a  son,  joined  the  conspirators.  The 
ringleader  was  one  Juan  de  Herrada.  On  Sunday, 
June  26,  1541,  the  band  of  assassins  suddenly  forced 
their  way  into  Pizarro's  house.  The  unarmed  guests 
fled  for  help ;  and  the  faithful  servants  who  resisted 
were  butchered.  Pizarro,  his  half-brother  Martinez 
de  Alcantara,  and  a  tried  officer  named  Francisco 
de  Chaves  had  to  bear  the  brunt  alone.  Taken  all 
by  surprise  as  they  were,  Pizarro  and  Alcantara  tried 
to  hurry  on  their  armor,  while  Chaves  was  ordered 
to  secure  the  door.  But  the  mistaken  soldier  half 
opened  it  to  parley  with  the  villains,  and  they  ran 
him  through,  and  kicked  his  corpse  down  the  stair 
case.  Alcantara  sprang  to  the  door  and  fought  he 
roically,  undaunted  by  the  wounds  that  grew  thicker 
on  him.  Pizarro,  hurling  aside  the  armor  there 
was  no  time  to  don,  flung  a  cloak  over  his  left  arm 
for  a  shield,  and  with  the  right  grasping  the  good 
sword  that  had  flashed  in  so  many  a  desperate  fray 
he  sprang  like  a  lion  upon  the  wolfish  gang.  He 
was  an  old  man  now ;  and  years  of  such  hardship 
and  exposure  as  few  men  living  nowadays  ever 
dreamed  of  had  told  on  him.  But  the  great  heart 
was  not  old,  and  he  fought  with  superhuman  valor 
and  superhuman  strength.  His  swift  sword  struck 


THE    WORK  OP    TRAITORS.  291 

down  the  two  foremost,  and  for  a  moment  the  trai 
tors  were  staggered.  But  Alcantara  had  fallen ;  and 
taking  turns  to  wear  out  the  old  hero,  the  cowards 
pressed  him  hard.  For  several  minutes  the  unequal 
fight  went  on  in  that  narrow  passage,  slippery  with 
blood,  —  one  gray-haired  man  with  flashing  eyes 
against  a  score  of  desperadoes.  At  last  Herrada 
seized  Narvaez,  a  comrade,  in  his  arms,  and  behind 
this  living  shield  rushed  against  Pizarro.  Pizarro 
ran  Narvaez  through  and  through ;  but  at  the  same 
instant  one  of  the  crowding  butchers  stabbed  him 
in  the  throat.  The  conqueror  of  Peru  reeled  and 
fell;  and  the  conspirators  plunged  their  swords  in 
his  body.  But  even  then  the  iron  will  kept  the 
body  to  the  last  thought  of  a  great  heart ;  and  call 
ing  upon  his  Redeemer,  Pizarro  drew  a  cross  with 
bloody  finger  upon  the  floor,  bent  and  kissed  the 
sacred  symbol,  and  was  dead. 

So  lived  and  so  died  the  man  who  began  life  as 
the  swineherd  of  Truxillo,  and  who  ended  it  the 
conqueror  of  Peru.  He  was  the  greatest  of  the 
Pioneers ;  a  man  who  from  meaner  beginnings  rose 
higher  than  any ;  a  man  much  slandered  and  ma 
ligned  by  the  prejudiced;  but  nevertheless  a  man 
whom  history  will  place  in  one  of  her  highest  niches, 
—  a  hero  whom  every  lover  of  heroism  will  one  day 
delight  to  honor. 

Such  was  the  conquest  of  Peru.  Of  the  romantic 
history  which  followed  in  Peru  I  cannot  tell  here,  — 
of  the  lamentable  fall  of  brave  Gonzalo  Pizarro; 


292 


THE  SPANISH  PIONEERS. 


of  the  remarkable  Pedro  de  la  Gasca  ;  of  the 
great  Mendoza's  vice-royal  promotion;  nor  of  a 
hundred  other  chapters  of  fascinating  history.  I 
have  wished  only  to  give  the  reader  some  idea  of 
what  a  Spanish  conquest  really  was,  in  superlative 
heroism  and  hardship.  Pizarro's  was  the  greatest 
conquest ;  but  there  were  many  others  which  were 
not  inferior  in  heroism  and  suffering,  but  only  in 
genius ;  and  the  story  of  Peru  was  very  much  the 
story  of  two  thirds  of  the  Western  Hemisphere. 


THE   END. 


